The emotional worlds of the Wagner brothers could hardly have been more different. While Moritz Wagner will miss the European Championships with a preliminary round in Cologne and the final round in Berlin due to an ankle injury, Franz Wagner came up trumps on his debut in the German national jersey.
The 20-year-old NBA professional from the Orlando Magic was the best German thrower in the contested 87:83 (46:50) of the national team in the first European Championship test in Belgium on Wednesday evening with 23 points and indicated how much he liked the selection of the German Basketball Federation can help at the tournament from September 1st to 18th.
“He did it really well,” national coach Gordon Herbert praised the high-flyer, who had already caused a sensation in his first NBA season. “He showed what quality he has,” said Herbert.
Wagner himself remained modest. “I just tried to help the team,” said the native of Berlin, who only needed 24 seconds for his first two points in the national jersey. “It’s an honor to play for Germany and that’s why I was a bit nervous at the beginning,” admitted Wagner.
His older brother Moritz followed the game from the stands with a thick splint on his leg. Due to an ankle injury, which had plagued him again and again during the past season in the USA, the 25-year-old cannot take part in the European Championship.
“I’ll tell you how it is. It hurts,” said Moritz Wagner in a statement from the association: “I’ve been looking forward to this tournament and this opportunity for years: to play in Germany, in Cologne and my city of Berlin, with my brother , at a home European Championship, was something I’d been dreaming of for a while now.”