Basketball world champion Dennis Schröder has defended himself against the accusation that he complained that the World Cup bonus of 16,000 euros was too low.
“I haven’t spoken to anyone about the bonus yet, not even from the association. I haven’t received anything yet. What the media is putting out there in order to write a good article is false press,” said Schröder in an interview with “ran .de”.
The 30-year-old, who captained the German Basketball Federation (DDB) team to their first World Cup triumph in September in Manila, simply called for “appreciation” for himself and his colleagues: “Appreciation is what we have if we’re going to sacrifice our summer and leave our families at home.”
After his outstanding World Cup with the Toronto Raptors in the NBA, Schröder had a mixed start to the season; after nine games, the Canadians have four wins and five defeats.
“The coordination with my teammates, the team chemistry still needs to get a little better. We’ve only been together for a month or two now and of course we’re trying to play our best basketball in March and April when we go into the play-offs. That is our goal,” said Schröder, who is playing his first season in Toronto.