His respect for FC Bayern is great. But a move to Munich would be out of the question for basketball star Dennis Schröder – but a move to another German club would be. And there is a very specific reason for that.
It’s been eleven years since Dennis Schröder left his hometown club in Braunschweig and joined the NBA, the best basketball league in the world. Since then he has played there for seven different clubs. The best German basketball professional is currently under contract with the Brooklyn Nets.
In an interview that the 31-year-old gave to “ran.de”, the captain of the German national team said that it was not an option for him to play for FC Bayern Munich at the end of his career. “Absolutely not,” said Schröder. He justified this attitude with reference to his birthplace – Braunschweig.
“Because Braunschweig is my club, and when I come to Germany, I only play for Braunschweig. I don’t play for any other club. I respect Munich, all cities. But I can’t make another team bigger than it already is. If I go to a team in Germany then hopefully there will be a very good bang. And then of course I want that to be my team,” said Schröder.
“I want to bring NBA flair into it,” says Schröder
He “definitely” has the opportunity to play in Braunschweig, where Schröder is also a partner, on his list. “I definitely have to go to Braunschweig again. That’s where I started. “That would make the club bigger,” explained the NBA professional. “We also want to reach the top in Europe. Bayern also started somewhere, and they are very high up. I look at Bayern – football and basketball – and how they do things. Of course I want to bring in the NBA flair, but how big they are… I definitely want to go there too.”
Schröder hopes that the German basketball players will stay together even after national coach Gordon Herbert’s term ends. “People have talked about the golden era and we should keep it together for as long as possible. We try to make it like football when you are nominated, that it is an honor for you to play,” said Schröder.
The European Championships will take place next year in Finland, Cyprus, Poland and Latvia. It will be the first tournament under the new national coach Alex Mumbru. The Spaniard succeeded Herbert, who moved to Bayern Munich after the Olympics. At the Summer Games, Germany narrowly missed out on a medal in fourth place.
dpa/LaGa
