Curious moment at the “Sportsman of the Year”
ZDF has to interrupt the live gala
12/21/2025 – 10:56 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
At the “Athlete of the Year” gala, the “Team of the Year” award was supposed to be the highlight. But the decision had to wait longer than planned.
It was the long-awaited last award ceremony of the evening: the election for “Team of the Year” was the crowning conclusion of the “Sportsman of the Year” gala in Baden-Baden. With biathlete Franziska Preuß as “Sportswoman of the Year” and decathlon world champion Leo Neugebauer as “Sportsman of the Year”, the individual awards had already been awarded. Now the team performance should be recognized.
The problem: In contrast to its fellow nominees, the women’s 4×100 meter relay team and the men’s national hockey team, the men’s national basketball team was not yet at the gala. The FC Bayern national players were actually supposed to represent the team that was crowned European champions this year after winning the World Cup two years ago.
But the people of Munich were still in on Sunday Bonn played a Bundesliga game – the first after the dismissal of coach Gordon Herbert, who led the DBB team to the World Cup title in 2023 and then moved to Bayern, but was dismissed there on Saturday.
After the 83:55 victory, the Bayern players made a special trip to Baden-Baden to take part in the gala there. But they didn’t make it in time for the planned awarding of the team prize. Moderator Lena Kesting and moderator Sven Voss had to briefly interrupt the event, which ZDF was showing live in the stream, in order to wait for the basketball players.
A wide-angle shot of the room was visible in the stream for ten minutes. In the picture there was also an overlay with the words “Short break. We are expecting the national basketball team shortly”. It was only after around ten minutes that the guests were called back to their seats and the event could continue.
There was a good reason for the break: In the end, the national basketball team clearly won the “Team of the Year” award and was able to accept the award in person.