Dennis Schroder credits Dirk Nowitzki for Germany’s international basketball success

Dennis Schroder once again cemented himself as one of the best players to come out of Germany as he led his country to the 2025 FIBA EuroBasket crown with an 88-83 win over Turkey in Riga.

The Sacramento Kings guard finished with a double-double of 16 points and 12 assists, delivering the final six points of the game. He nailed a jumper with 18.7 seconds left, and after Turkey’s Alperen Sengun missed a potential game-tying three, Schroder sealed the victory with two clutch free throws.

With the performance, he earned the Tissot 2025 FIBA EuroBasket MVP award and a spot in the tournament’s All-Star Five.

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Isaac Bonga top-scored for Germany with 20 points, while Franz Wagner added 18 in the tightly fought finale. Sengun paced Turkey with a dominant 28-point performance, supported by Cedi Osman’s 23 and Shane Larkin’s 13 points, nine assists, and six rebounds.

📣 MVP, MVP, MVP!

Dennis Schröder ist zum MVP der @EuroBasket gewählt worden! ❤️🇩🇪@DBB_Basketball #dbb #fiba #eurobasket #easycreditbbl pic.twitter.com/5LkBW6tdMa

— easyCredit BBL (@easyCreditBBL) September 14, 2025

The 32-year-old has established himself as the face of Germany’s golden generation, but he insists their success would not have been possible without the contributions of NBA legend Dirk Nowitzki, widely regarded as the GOAT of German basketball.

“Dirk is a guy who changed basketball for all the big guys. So, at the end of the day, I’m Dennis Schroder, and everybody has their own legacy. Dirk, what he has done for the German national team and in the NBA, representing our country,” Schroder said in a media interaction.

The guard went on to add that, rather than chase GOAT status — which belongs to Nowitzki — he simply wants to help his country win more gold medals, which he considers his true legacy.

“At the end of the day, my name is Dennis Schroder, and I’m just Dennis Schroder, and that’s my legacy. Whatever I can bring to the table to make sure my teammates are good and we compete at the highest level and win gold medals — that’s what I’m going to do. Everything else doesn’t matter,” he added.

In addition to winning the MVP award, Schroder also made history by recording the most assists in a EuroBasket final, surpassing Spain’s Lorenzo Brown, who registered 11 in the 2022 gold medal game. Schroder closed his EuroBasket 2025 campaign averaging 20.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 7.2 assists across eight games.

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