Berlin is waiting eagerly: Will the Wagner brothers be on the floor together at the first competitive NBA game in Berlin? Either way, it is clear: the game is very important for German basketball.
- The Orlando Magic will meet the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday in Berlin’s Uber Arena
- Franz Wagner hopes for a comeback at the NBA game in Berlin
- Brother Moritz is probably there after a torn cruciate ligament
- NBA wants to promote European expansion with Berlin event
There he was, finally back in his hometown of Berlin, sitting at the press conference in the Max Schmeling Hall. Smiling shyly – or mischievously, it’s never quite clear with him – next to his older brother Moritz.
Franz Wagner of course knew that he would immediately provide an answer to a question that has been keeping basketball fans in Germany in suspense for weeks, and certainly also the parent organization NBA, which markets the event: Will the German face of the Orlando Magic be on the floor at the first official NBA game that Berlin is hosting on Thursday, January 15th (tip-off at 8 p.m.)? Or is Franz Wagner just sitting in the stands during the game against the Memphis Grizzlies in the Uber Arena?
Moritz Wagner is back on time
His answer leaves room for interpretation. “I’m feeling good, I want to have a good training session today and see how the foot reacts and then I hope I can play on Thursday.” So no rejection – and still no sigh of relief. The Berlin-born world and European champion has been missing from the Magic since December due to a sprained ankle.
There was a lot of relief for his brother just a few days ago: the 2.11 meter tall big man had been injured much worse, had suffered a torn cruciate ligamentbut collected his first minutes of action at the weekend in the win against the New Orleans Pelicans – after a 386-day break.
Berlin: “Our Backyard”
It is precisely this fear and hope for two protagonists that shows why the game in Berlin will ultimately prove to be a marketing coup for the NBA. It’s about identification. A city is looking forward to the return of perhaps its two biggest sports stars at the moment – athletes who embody an image that has always been most valued in this country of its idols, from Franz Beckenbauer to Steffi Graf and Thomas Müller to, of course, Dirk Nowitzki: modest, polite, clever.
And in the case of the Wagner brothers, there are two stars who are delighted to be returning. “This is our backyard, we see a lot of familiar faces here, we grew up here,” said Moritz Wagner on Tuesday. The two trained in their youth on the capital’s outdoor courts and in the Max Schmeling Hall. Basketball in Berlin is “a huge part of our childhood”. It was “surreal” to return there as an NBA player.
Going to the NBA is different than going to the NFL
The Wagners give the PR visit to the NBA – the dazzling basketball dream factory – something tangible. And perhaps it differs from that too American football guest game in the Olympic Stadium two months ago: The hype was enormous when, with the game between the Indianapolis Colts and Atlanta Falcons, a competitive National Football League game took place in Berlin for the first time. But the whole thing also had something of a huge spaceship from a distant galaxy floating over the heads of the Berliners.
What remains in memory are countless fan zones from various NFL franchises, a new kebab creation (“Kebuc”) initiated by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a “wall fall moment” before the game (“Wind of Change” was heard over the speakers, of course) and the half-time show of an Australian rapper who is considered a passionate rugby fan. Then the spaceship flew on.
Orlando wants to achieve old successes with Franz Wagner
The NFL did not have local ambassadors like the Wagner brothers from Prenzlauer Berg. Both went through the talent factory of Alba Berlin and celebrated their professional debuts there. After their time at the renowned University of Michigan, both made the leap into the NBA – Moritz in 2018, Franz three years later. Today they are reunited at the Orlando Magic and part of a young team that is supposed to lead the proud franchise, once home to stars like Shaquille O’Neal, Grant Hill and Dwight Howard, back to its former strength.
The Florida franchise made it clear that it sees Franz Wagner as the leader of its new ambitions by awarding the 24-year-old a staggering $224 million contract – and giving him a contract currently the highest paid German athlete of all time made.
Moritz Wagner
Franz and I are grateful that we can be part of a wave of young German players who have achieved something in the sport.
Wagner brothers stand for German Basketball boom
The return of the Wagner brothers to Berlin also fits in with the recent, sensationally successful history of German basketball. In step with the establishment of the Wagner brothers in the big basketball world The whole sport developed immensely in this country.
Led by captain Dennis Schröder, the German selection with the Wagner brothers first triumphed at the World Cup and two years later also won the European Championship title – this time without the injured Moritz Wagner, but with Tristan da Silva, who also plays for the Orlando Magic in the NBA and will be on the floor on Thursday.
Not to be forgotten: the German women will also host the World Championship in Berlin’s Max Schmeling Hall in September, including the women’s basketball elite – including those who also come from Berlin Sabally sisters from the WNBA – gather in the capital. And the Basketball Bundesliga achieved the highest average attendance in its history last season.
NBA with master plan for Europe
“Franz and I are grateful that we can be part of a wave of young German players who have achieved something in the sport,” says Moritz Wagner now. It is important and nice to say “how big sport has become in the last few years, especially in Germany, with the international successes and also how many people we now have in the NBA.” Six German professionals are currently regularly playing time in the best league in the world.
Berlin, Germany, the renewed fascination for basketball – the NBA’s marketing strategists want to make the best possible use of all of this. League Commissioner Adam Silver made it clear that commercial success on the Old Continent has not yet kept pace with the growth that the sport is experiencing there. The Master Plan: In The NBA Europe is scheduled to open in October 2027 together with the world association Fiba start and thus completely change the European league system as we know it so far. Alba Berlin also hopes to be part of it.
With regard to the NBA, Franz Wagner says: “That’s kind of the goal of this trip, to bring it closer to everyone who lives in Germany, Europe and Berlin. The NBA world used to feel very far away.” Now the goal is to make the path to the NBA “seem clearer for the next generation.”
In any case, the NBA has never seemed as close as it does now.
Broadcast: rbb 88.8, January 13, 2026, 4:30 p.m
