Semi-finals at the basketball European Championship
Now Germany is dealing with “Slim Jesus”
Updated on September 12, 2025 – 3:21 p.m.Reading time: 3 min.
Nobody wants to be blinded by the clear preliminary round victory in the DBB team before reunion with Finland. Also because a teenager has sparked an unprecedented euphoria at the opponent.
The ice hockey nation Finland has never moved in such basketball spheres. Before the European Championship half-final duel with the German team on Friday (from 4 p.m. in the live ticker at T-Online), the Scandinavians dream of a medal. For the first time in general, precious metal for Suomi is within reach. The best performance at a European Championship so far: sixth in 1967.
So it is not surprising that a real euphoria around the team broke out in the Co-host country. What also has to do with a very special teenager in their ranks, to which the fan hearts fly: Miikka Muurinen. The 18-year-old is one of the shooting stars of this European Championship. With a good 2.10 meters, curly hair and tattooed arm, it is already noticeable.
On average, he only gets playing time for around ten minutes, but they have an effect. Muurinen brings energy to the field – sometimes spectacular, sometimes impetuous. His Fastbreak-Dunk against Great Britain was one of the highlights of the tournament.
The hype around him grows. An artist even immortalized his action on canvas and presented him with the picture. He received his special nickname “Slim Jesus” from a US influencer. Muurinen himself takes it with humor: he couldn’t make water into wine, he said, “but I can walk a few seconds afloat if I run quickly”.
But also “Slim Jesus” is far from on the court at his young age. “We know that his temperament is a strength of him. But if he exaggerates it, this strength becomes a weakness,” said Finland’s German sports director Henrik Dettmann, who in 2002 led the DBB team as a trainer to WM-Bronze, in conversation with basketball world.
In any case, the facilities are there: enormous length, liquid movements and strong jumping power. Again and again he captures passports and closes with crashing darks. No wonder – both parents were Finnish international, also active in Germany. Papa Kimmo played in the 2010/11 season for the Frankfurt Skyliners in the BBL. He ran 153 times for his home country.
His high -talented son is currently visiting a high school in Arizona, in 2026 the change to college is to follow. Seven top universities have made offers, Muurinen wants to decide at the end of the year. Until then, he continues to gain experience – maybe also on Friday against Germany. In any case, he proudly explained: “We still have a lot going on.”
The Finnish team is managed by NBA-Star Lauri Markkanen by the Utah Jazz, which at the European Championships succeeds on average the third most points per game (24.7). Despite the crashing 61: 91 defeat against the DBB team in the group phase, the Finns are confident. “We are not yet finished,” announced Markkanen after the quarter -finals against Georgia (93:79).