While Team USA prepares a “Dream Team” for the Paris Olympics, other nations are organizing to try to compete. In addition to France and Canada, the Americans will also count Germany among their best-armed rivals and for good reason, the Germans are the reigning World Champions, after having eliminated the Americans in the semi-finals.
MVP of the World Cup last summer, Dennis Schroder displayed his ambitions in an interview for Kicker, and the leader of the Nets has set the bar quite high: he is aiming for final victory, even if Team USA will be on a completely different level.
“In Paris, there will be LeBron James, Steph Curry, Jayson Tatum, Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, Jimmy Butler and other superstars. It will be difficult, but nothing is impossible. We have a chance,” he said. “If we focus on our performance, we can still beat anyone, which shows how confident I am with our national team.”
In the footsteps of the great Dirk
Dennis Schroder also hopes that the basketball team will be honored by German sport during the Olympic Games thanks to the successful feat in 2023. To mark the occasion, the MVP imagines himself as a standard bearer , why not with the whole team to support him?
“If he’s not a basketball player today, when will it be? We won the World Cup! I would like the twelve to carry the flag, I am very serious”, he added.
As a reminder, Dirk Nowitzki had already received this honor in 2008 during the Beijing Olympics, after being MVP of the regular season in the NBA a year earlier. Dennis Schroder therefore wishes to follow in the footsteps of his illustrious elder, and has even set himself the goal of playing until he is 40, as the “Wunderkid” did by retiring in Dallas in 2019.
Small variation, the 30-year-old leader sees himself returning to Germany to complete the circle by reuniting with his former club Braunschweig. “Easily up to 40 years old, in the NBA until 35-36 years old, then I can come back to Germany and shake up the championship a little”he concluded.
| Dennis Schroder | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Party | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2013-14 | ATL | 49 | 13 | 38.3 | 23.8 | 67.4 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 0.0 | 3.7 |
| 2014-15 | ATL | 77 | 20 | 42.7 | 35.1 | 82.7 | 0.4 | 1.8 | 2.1 | 4.1 | 1.7 | 0.6 | 2.0 | 0.1 | 10.0 |
| 2015-16 | ATL | 80 | 20 | 42.1 | 32.2 | 79.1 | 0.3 | 2.2 | 2.6 | 4.4 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 2.3 | 0.1 | 11.0 |
| 2016-17 | ATL | 79 | 32 | 45.1 | 34.0 | 85.5 | 0.5 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 6.3 | 1.9 | 0.9 | 3.3 | 0.2 | 17.9 |
| 2017-18 | ATL | 67 | 31 | 43.6 | 29.0 | 84.9 | 0.7 | 2.5 | 3.1 | 6.2 | 2.2 | 1.1 | 2.7 | 0.1 | 19.4 |
| 2018-19 | OKAY | 79 | 29 | 41.4 | 34.1 | 81.9 | 0.5 | 3.1 | 3.6 | 4.1 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 2.2 | 0.2 | 15.5 |
| 2019-20 | OKAY | 65 | 31 | 46.9 | 38.5 | 83.9 | 0.3 | 3.3 | 3.6 | 4.0 | 2.3 | 0.7 | 2.6 | 0.2 | 18.9 |
| 2020-21 | LAL | 61 | 32 | 43.7 | 33.5 | 84.8 | 0.5 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 5.8 | 2.6 | 1.2 | 2.7 | 0.2 | 15.4 |
| 2021-22 * | All Teams | 64 | 29 | 43.1 | 34.4 | 85.3 | 0.5 | 2.8 | 3.3 | 4.6 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 2.2 | 0.1 | 13.6 |
| 2021-22 * | BOS | 49 | 29 | 44.0 | 34.9 | 84.8 | 0.6 | 2.8 | 3.4 | 4.2 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 2.1 | 0.1 | 14.4 |
| 2021-22 * | HOU | 15 | 27 | 39.3 | 32.8 | 87.2 | 0.4 | 2.9 | 3.3 | 5.9 | 2.5 | 0.8 | 2.6 | 0.2 | 10.9 |
| 2022-23 | LAL | 66 | 30 | 41.5 | 32.9 | 85.7 | 0.3 | 2.2 | 2.5 | 4.5 | 2.2 | 0.8 | 1.7 | 0.2 | 12.6 |
| 2023-24 * | All Teams | 65 | 31 | 44.8 | 38.4 | 81.5 | 0.4 | 2.4 | 2.8 | 6.1 | 2.0 | 0.8 | 1.8 | 0.2 | 13.9 |
| 2023-24 * | TOR | 51 | 31 | 44.2 | 35.0 | 85.2 | 0.4 | 2.3 | 2.8 | 6.1 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 0.2 | 13.7 |
| 2023-24 * | BRK | 14 | 30 | 46.7 | 49.3 | 58.3 | 0.4 | 2.5 | 2.9 | 5.9 | 1.9 | 0.5 | 2.4 | 0.2 | 14.6 |
| Total | 752 | 27 | 43.5 | 34.2 | 83.4 | 0.4 | 2.5 | 2.9 | 4.8 | 2.1 | 0.8 | 2.3 | 0.1 | 14.0 | |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive rebound; Tot = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; Pts = Points.
