Franz Wagner is shaking up the NBA with the Orlando Magic. The Berliner, who signed a gigantic five-year contract in the summer, is currently delivering one top performance after the next. In the SPORT1 interview, the 23-year-old explains the secret of success.
Franz Wagner leads the Orlando Magic from win to win in the NBA. The Berlin native recently shone against the Los Angeles Lakers with 37 points, eleven assists and the winning goal with a three-pointer shortly before the end. The German is now a fixture at the fourth-place team in the Eastern Conference.
The NBA recently honored Wagner as Player of the Week and described the 2.08 meter man as one of its “most versatile and complete” professionals.
Im SPORT1-Interview, the 23-year-old talks about his role in Orlando, the burden of a multi-million dollar record contract, the declaration of love from an NBA legend and why NBA games in Europe would be an opportunity.
SPORT1: Mr. Wagner, Orlando has many young players in the squad. What can you expect from this team next season and where are we headed in the future?
Franz Wagner: Of course we are very, very young. But the playoff experience should definitely help us this year. The expectations for us now are that we want to play like we did last year – and hopefully even a little better. We all had a great summer and want to build on last season’s success.
SPORT1: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was recently pleased that he now plays on a team where “everyone likes to defend.” Is that the Magic’s strength? And where do you see weaknesses in the team?
Wagner: KCP brought it up: We were the third-best defense in the NBA last year. That is definitely our strength. We have players who are very versatile defensively and also very smart. And as KCP also mentioned, we have the mindset and the desire to defend it! We want to get a little better offensively this year, a little more versatile. This also has a lot to do with hitting shots. Even though things didn’t work out so well for us as a team in the first part of the season, you can already see that we have an idea and are a little further ahead than last year.
Wagner: “I definitely see myself as a leader”
SPORT1: And about yourself? Where does the most potential lie within you? Do you see yourself as a leader?
Wagner: It’s important for me to continue working on my throwing. That opens up a lot in my game to then beat my defender off the dribble and make the right decisions when I’m in the zone. That’s where I have the most potential.
SPORT1: Do you see yourself as a leader?
Wagner: I definitely see myself as a leader! It’s definitely a role that I’ll have to grow into a bit, but I feel it’s my responsibility to step up and help where I can. I’ve been here for the fourth year now and the team expects the same from me.
SPORT1: Shaquille O’Neal recently said he loved you and your brother. How does it feel to receive such praise from a legend?
Wagner: The thing with Shaq is of course great. Very, very cool to hear something like that. But the main thing is to continue to concentrate on the process and then hopefully something like this will happen a few more times.
“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a burden”
SPORT1: They signed a mega-contract ($224 million over five years, editor’s note), only German athletes like Michael Schumacher earned this size. How much pressure does this increase on you? How do you deal with it?
Wagner: The pressure from outside may increase a little. But I’m someone who always puts a lot of pressure on myself anyway. That’s why it doesn’t really change much for me personally. But I can also honestly say that this is a new situation for me and it took me the summer to get used to it. Of course I’m very happy that I’ve been trusted here in Orlando for so long. I’m also very happy with the help I get and how it’s handled. It can also get very strange very quickly, but the people around me made it very easy for me.
SPORT1: There are said to be plans for the NBA to expand into Europe. A regular game in Berlin would be awesome, right? Would you be happy to accept the stress of traveling or has the limit of exertion for the players been reached?
Wagner: Sure, playing an NBA Europe game in Berlin would be really cool. The stress of traveling is something you can talk about with a story like this. You can also see in other leagues that new ways are always being found to open up even more markets. But I would also be lying if I said it wasn’t a burden. But I wouldn’t complain about it. You always have to make sure that the product and the game do not suffer from more games or more travel. There is a balance that you have to find.
