Beate Wagner gradually feels her pulse beating faster again. Who can blame the 54-year-old: after all, she is the biggest fan of her sons Franz, 23, and Moritz, 27, whose new season in the best basketball league in the world, the NBA, begins on Wednesday.
The world champions, who have been under contract with the Orlando Magic for three years, will play their opening game against the Miami Heat. Mother Beate will be watching the game with her husband Axel in front of their home screen in Prenzlauer Berg. The family has lived in the East Berlin district since the 1990s, where their children’s rise to fame as the first pair of German brothers to become the Mecca of their sport began.
“Athlete Mom,” as Beate Wagner describes herself, suggests one of the neighborhood cafés as a meeting place for the interview. She’s a little late. A friend stopped her, she apologizes. Due to the steep careers of their celebrated offspring, their everyday lives also changed. Especially since she is often right in the middle of the action and sees first-hand how her two boys perform at the World Cup and European Championships or the Olympic Games and realize their long-held NBA dream in North America.
In her new book “Gleek in Their Eyes,” the medical journalist describes their path to becoming global sports stars. She doesn’t hide the pride she feels.
WORLD ON SUNDAY: Ms. Wagner, when did you drink your last Franz beer?
Beate Wagner: Franz beer…? Oh, do you mean the mug with the image of Franz that is available in Orlando and from which I actually drank a beer at a home game last season, which I called “Franz beer” because of the image?
WORLD ON SUNDAY: Exactly.
Wagner: I haven’t had a Franz beer since then. I washed the cup and took it with me to Berlin as a souvenir. It’s on the microwave now.
WORLD ON SUNDAY: The likeness of your youngest son on an NBA club’s drinking vessel is just one indication of your boys’ importance in the billion-dollar basketball business. What they have achieved since September last year seems like a fairytale: world champions and fourth at the Olympics in Paris – the best German placement at the Summer Games. And played in the play-offs for the first time with Orlando. Do you sometimes have to pinch yourself to really understand what your children have achieved in such a short time?
Wagner: Yes, that’s already happening. Especially if you have experienced it personally. It’s all pretty crazy and sometimes it leaves me speechless. That’s also why I wrote the book, to find out how this all happened.
WORLD ON SUNDAY: What is your main insight?
Wagner: They are two seemingly unreal, but nevertheless real images that the boys embody individually in their own way. They are made up of dozens of small mosaic tiles, both the same and different. One thing is clear: there is no secret or patent recipe for a career like the one our boys are experiencing.
WORLD ON SUNDAY: What are the most important success factors?
Wagner: This includes the boys’ many companions, starting in kindergarten, at school, at the Alba Berlin local association, in Michigan…
WORLD ON SUNDAY: … where both went to college in Ann Arbor before Moritz was drafted into the NBA in 2018, then Franz three years later.
Wagner: And it continued through the national team, the NBA – until now with the Orlando Magic. Countless trainers, doctors, physiotherapists, agents and friends invested countless hours of work, brain power, kilometers and nerves to accompany the children professionally, highly motivated, attentive and often selflessly. They all believed in our boys. An awful lot has to fit together. You have to get the opportunities, you need the right mindset.
WORLD ON SUNDAY: And you need parents who are willing to support their children’s dreams. Although you were initially suspicious of athletes because you believed that they knew nothing but their sport and were boring.
Wagner: I am not proud of this derogatory view today. Going there I also turned 180 degrees. Today I am fascinated by how athletes pursue their passion and how they deal with complex challenges. This doesn’t just mean throwing balls at baskets or doing strength training every day. No, this is also a huge mental and communicative challenge. The players are constantly present in the media. It is impressive how they master this holistic approach. As parents, we have of course always supported our boys on their journey, but in the way we saw fit.
WORLD ON SUNDAY: What did that mean?
Wagner: We were careful to ensure that their education was not neglected and that they grew up normally. That’s why, despite requests from some coaches, we didn’t send the boys to an elite sports school, but rather to a broad-based high school. They already played enough basketball. We were aware that competitive sport itself robs the boys of a piece of their carefree childhood. We didn’t want any more restrictions. It was the right decision, I am convinced of that. The boys today think far outside the box, think in a differentiated way, are tolerant, down-to-earth, question critically and are socially intelligent.
WORLD ON SUNDAY: Haven’t you made any mistakes in your upbringing?
Wagner: Sure, obviously they weren’t that serious.
WORLD ON SUNDAY: Nevertheless, there were many tears from your sons…
Wagner: Are you referring to our vacations?
WORLD ON SUNDAY: Correct.
Wagner: Well, they actually became a problem. Every time we were faced with the dilemma: should we plan our family vacations the way we want, or should we sacrifice them for basketball? I didn’t see that we should base our family time on Alba Berlin and the German Basketball Association. I didn’t want to do without, and it was about my children. I was convinced that it would be good for them to get away from everyday life, away from basketball.
WORLD ON SUNDAY: And that’s why you prevailed?
Wagner: Yes, and accepted that the children would miss training camps or even tournaments to which their teams were not invited every day. Which didn’t come without small and sometimes larger dramas at home. The boys didn’t want a mother who was known across the country for her love of going on vacation and who didn’t realize that her children were talented and disciplined and could achieve a lot in basketball.
WORLD ON SUNDAY: Have they forgiven you for your stubbornness now?
Wagner: When we occasionally talk about this, familiar tension immediately arises. They found me annoying and difficult back then – which they still see. Franz is upset that I wasn’t really aware of it or perhaps didn’t care; at times he found it disrespectful, stubborn, ignorant and also arrogant, as I argued at the time. Looking back, the most important thing to both of them is that I never draw the conclusion that my vacation decisions might have contributed to the boys being where they are today. Under no circumstances should I assume that it was my supposedly clever nature that brought her to the NBA.
WORLD ON SUNDAY: Don’t such statements get under your skin?
Wagner: I understand your excitement. I was very stubborn and used my influence as a mother over their heads, even if I meant well. At the time, I was not aware that my behavior was risky and could have had a negative impact on her sporting career. I also went through a development process. I realized, just as Moritz wanted me to, that I was not the Jesus of education. But let’s go back to the pieces of the mosaic of their successes.
WORLD ON SUNDAY: Please.
Wagner: Of course, this also includes personal talent and the serious willingness to do something with one’s abilities, which always involves hardship. No high flyer just takes off. And then you need a lot of luck. When you understand this, you realize that many things have to go right that you cannot control. For example, the boys have now been playing on the same team for the fourth season, which makes things a lot easier for us as parents, especially in terms of communication, since they both live under the same roof in Orlando.
WORLD ON SUNDAY: You spent the entire 2022/23 season as an “Athlete Mom” in Orlando with your sons because you found it difficult to let go of them. Has this happened now?
Wagner: This process took longer than expected. I’m happy to admit that. There were several reasons for this. On the one hand, I generally find it difficult to let go of something that is unique to me. Then I had a problem with the boys going to the US at such a young age and there being such a long distance between us. And then, far away from Berlin, they lead an extraordinary life that is completely foreign to us. I think it’s normal for a mother to be worried. The inner turmoil has now subsided and writing the book turned out to be a good idea to find peace with it. Next time we’ll fly to see the boys at Christmas.
WORLD ON SUNDAY: Their lives must feel like winning the lottery. Especially since Moritz extended his contract for two seasons for $22 million in the summer, and Franz even signed a five-year contract for a whopping $224 million. Don’t these sums make you dizzy?
Wagner: You can say that, it’s all hard to describe. I ask for a little patience, this is still too fresh a feeling. We first have to think and live our way into it. I think it’s very important that we, and especially the children, take our time with it.
WORLD ON SUNDAY: What goes through your mind when you hear that your son Franz is Germany’s highest-paid athlete in history?
Wagner: That hasn’t really sunk in yet either. At the same time, it’s not like I get up in the morning and write down the number and the zeros first for understanding. I realize that this is a complex issue, including emotionally. For example, the question arises: How do other people react to this, how do they react to us, to me? Through my book research, I understand what these incredible salaries come from. The NBA players are part of a gigantic entertainment industry that makes a tremendous amount of money. With this knowledge, it is a little easier for me to accept these sums and the enormous business.
WORLD ON SUNDAY: Do you feel jealous?
Wagner: Many people who were previously skeptical about how we accompanied our boys are now happy for and with us. But there are also friendships that don’t turn out well, which hurts. But good: I tell myself that if the path doesn’t continue together, so be it. Every change in life always brings something new. For me it is crucial that we as the Wagner family have not changed, that we maintain the values and needs that have always been important for our lives.
WORLD ON SUNDAY: In December, ZDF will also be showing a four-part documentary about your sons. This should brighten the shine in their eyes and yours, right?
Wagner: If I contradicted that, it would be a lie. This is all crazy.
WORLD ON SUNDAY: Basically, all that’s missing now is a championship title in the NBA. Do you think the guys with the Magic can do it, it would be the club’s first championship title?
Wagner: Yes, sure. I believe in it.
WORLD ON SUNDAY: Would you also wear your red dress to the finals, like you did when you won the World Cup?
Wagner: Naturally. I bought it for such unique occasions. (laughs)
Gunnar Meinhardt is a freelance author and has been reporting on international sport for WELT for decades. He reported on several Olympic Games.
