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Basketball professionals Moritz and Franz Wagner: The first German pair of brothers to play in the strongest basketball league in the world
Photo:
John Raoux / AP
If a 2.05 meter tall person says that he is looking up at his brother, then you could be stumped.
But the professional basketball player Franz Wagner is six centimeters shorter than his brother Moritz - and also the younger of the two.
The brothers sit together in the large press room of the NBA club Orlando Magic and answer questions at a press round.
The 20 year old Franz and the four years older Moritz.
Franz is wearing a T-shirt, his well-toned upper arms are easy to see, Moritz is wearing a black hoodie.
Two Berliners in the middle of Florida.
Moritz and Franz Wagner are the first German pair of brothers to play in the strongest basketball league in the world.
In the NBA, siblings are not uncommon, with Jrue, Justin and Aaron Holiday there is even a brother trio.
That's why their story hardly plays a role in the Magic booth, says Moritz Wagner.
He always went first in the family - and Franz followed him.
First to the basketball Bundesliga club Alba Berlin, where both made it to the top early on, despite their young age.
Moritz was 17 when he made his debut in October 2014, making him the youngest player in the club's history.
He was replaced in April 2018 by Franz, who had his premiere at the age of 16.
Moritz was already on his way to the NBA.
In his four years at the University of Michigan, the power forward, who can also play center and is also a good three-way shooter, piqued the interest of the NBA scouts.
In the 2018 draft, the Los Angeles Lakers voted him 25th.
Moritz left Michigan, but from 2019 the next Wagner played with Franz for the Wolverines.
The small forward has its strengths on the defensive and is seen offensively as a reliable thrower from a distance.
When Orlando picked him eighth among all the talents in the summer, it caused a sensation. After all, Dirk Nowitzki was once drafted in ninth place. While Franz Wagner signed a four-year contract with Magic and is about to make his NBA debut, Moritz has already worn four different jerseys since 2018, three of them last season.
There are some who see Orlando as their last chance to hold their own in the league. An indication of this is that Wagner only receives the required minimum salary of $ 3.6 million for his two-year contract and the second season is not guaranteed. He himself ignores such sentences, he is anyway the one who is considered more relaxed, almost always smiles, is extroverted.
The Wagners live together in a house with a garden and pool.
It is nice, says Franz, "to hang out a lot more away from the court," that was "never really possible" in the past few years and that is precisely why one is enjoying it very much now.
Although they grew up together, Moritz has been playing basketball for 16 years and Franz for 13 years, the brothers are now on a team for the first time.
In the round, both were asked about one of the dominant topics (not only) in the NBA: the corona vaccinations.
According to the league, "around 96 percent" of the professionals are vaccinated.
But there are also unvaccinated people like Kyrie Irving from the Brooklyn Nets, who was recently released, according to the club, because he was not allowed into the arena for home games.
Moritz and Franz Wagner are both vaccinated.
Franz Wagner thinks it is "generally difficult how the subject is approached", "simply because it is sometimes brought up so politically".
He sees the vaccination as a "good option to protect me and the people around me."
Moritz Wagner also sees it differently, he thinks nothing of compulsory vaccination.
"I find it very difficult telling someone what to do."
