Franz Wagner
Nobody earns more than the German basketball star
Updated on September 14, 2025 – 6:05 p.m.Reading time: 2 min.
Not even Dirk Nowitzki got that much money. The German basketball player Franz Wagner rose to a top earner last year – and set a new standard.
Franz Wagner is on the right track to win another title with the German national team. At the SEM basketball, he will be Germany in the semi-finals against Finland this Friday (from 4 p.m. in the live ticker at T-Online). It would be another milestone in Wagner’s career after the 2023 World Cup in 2023.
In general, Wagner is now one of the best German players – and probably also worldwide. Otherwise, the Orlando Magic from the NBA would not have extended his contract last year, with a sum that was hardly imaginable until then. Wagner thus rose to one of the best paid German athletes in history.
According to the media reports, the contract has a term of five years and brings Wagner a total of $ 224 million, which corresponds to the equivalent of around 200 million euros (EUR 44.8 million a year). “It’s a surreal feeling. I haven’t really checked it,” said the small forward about his new mega contract.
Under certain conditions, the salary volume could even increase to up to $ 269 million (229 million euros). For comparison: Germany’s most successful basketball player, Dirk Nowitzki, came to a total of $ 255 million ($ 217 million) in 21 years – and thus to less than Wagner with a single contract. And Franz Wagner also leads clearly compared to other German athletes.
World Cup winner Toni Kroos, who has now ended his career, deserved an estimated 24 million euros a year and led the list for a long time. Manuel Neuer and Joshua Kimmich, who are still playing at Bayern, will probably get a little more than 20 million euros a year.