Anyone who sees this young man sitting on the beach in California can hardly imagine that he is currently the highest-paid athlete in Germany. Franz Wagner will earn 224 million US dollars, the equivalent of around 207 million euros, over the next five years at Orlando Magic. A volume that even former basketball superstar Dirk Nowitzki did not achieve in his career, which was crowned with the NBA title in 2011.
But in the images from the new ZDF documentary “The Wagner Brothers – Two Brothers. A Dream”, which will be published in four parts from December, Wagner seems like a completely normal young man on the terrace of the beach house in Dana Point. Wagner plays cards with his brother Moritz while they both wait for the call from Moritz’s agent.
It is the summer of 2023 and the Wagner brothers are preparing for the World Cup in Asia, where they will sensationally become world champions a few weeks later and thus become known throughout sports Germany. Moritz Wagner is vying for a new contract and the documentary by the two directors Thomas Pletzinger and Timon Modersohn, which is worth seeing, makes it clear that the players are happy to take home the incredible sums in the NBA, but money is not everything.
Rather, Moritz Wagner’s contract negotiations are about recognition and appreciation. The older of the two Wagner brothers has had a good season and he wants that recognized in the new contract offer. But the Magic bosses’ first offer of six million dollars for one year suggests that they want to keep Moritz to make his brother Franz happy.
“I am not an educator. “I’m a basketball player,” Moritz says to his agent on the phone. “I don’t feel like being a babysitter.” In the end, he signed a two-year contract for $16 million and was happy.
© dpa/Andreas Gora
When Orlando starts the new season in Miami this Wednesday (local time), another German, Tristan da Silva, brother of national player and Bayern professional Oscar da Silva, will wear the Magic jersey. The main focus will be on Franz Wagner, who experts believe will become one of the league’s superstars, and not just because of the mega contract.
“I love the way he plays. “He can actually do almost everything,” says Nowitzki, praising the new leader in German basketball. “He can reach the status of Dirk Nowitzki. “He even has a killer instinct that Dirk probably didn’t have at this age,” says Gordon Herbert, who accompanied and supported Wagner as a national coach for three years.
I hope they never get separated and always play for the same club. The Wagner boys belong together. I love her!
NBA Legend Shaquille O’Neal in the sports picture
Wagner himself doesn’t dwell on such comparisons for long. He knows that he is good, but at the same time he still has areas of his game that he needs to work on. Compared to his older brother, Franz Wagner seems a bit shy and reserved, appears calm and often speaks quietly.
In a lively family with his parents Axel and Beate, who have been known since the World Cup and who also play a central role in the documentary, he takes on the role of a haven of calm. “He has built a niche for himself in our family. He looked at it and thought, “Now I’ll be a little calmer and think before I talk,” said Moritz Wagner, who is the complete opposite.
By missing out on an Olympic medal in Paris in the summer, the Wagner brothers had to accept a minor sporting setback for the first time after years of meteoric rise. Things are now set to go up again in the NBA and make it to the play-offs with Orlando for the second time in a row.
Franz Wagner will collect $224 million over the next five years
“I think we have made good use of the last few weeks to process the experiences of the Olympic Games. Now I’m happy that it’s starting again in the USA,” said Franz Wagner at the presentation of the ZDF documentary in Berlin at the end of September.
And all that money? Only plays a supporting role for Franz Wagner. “Of course this sum is surreal,” says Wagner. It is more important for him that he feels comfortable in Florida and continues to have his brother by his side. “I do appreciate that this constellation with Moritz and I is a special one.”
And someone else is happy about the Wagner duo in Orlando. “They are playing unbelievably. Franz and Moritz, both are great! “I hope they are never separated and always play for the same club,” NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal recently told “Sport Bild”. “The Wagner boys belong together. I love her!”
