RIGA (Latvia) - In 2022, Franz Wagner had just turned 21 as FIBA EuroBasket tipped off. It was his first major event with the national team, and the potential to do something special was clear as day.
He had 15.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game, helping Germany to a bronze medal.
National Team Career
Event | Games | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
FIBA EuroBasket 2025 | 9 | 20.8 PPG | 5.9 RPG | 3.4 APG |
Paris 2024 Men's Olympic Basketball Tournament | 6 | 18.5 PPG | 5.8 RPG | 2.5 APG |
FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 | 4 | 16.8 PPG | 6.5 RPG | 3.0 APG |
FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 European Qualifiers | 2 | 16.0 PPG | 6.0 RPG | 3.5 APG |
FIBA EuroBasket 2022 | 9 | 15.2 PPG | 4.0 RPG | 1.7 APG |
The immediate thought was, if he's that good at 21, how good will he be at 24?
The answer: Unreal. MVP consideration, that good.
"I don't think he's a baby," teammate Johannes Thiemann laughed at the idea of Wagner still being the youngest on the team in 2025.
"But for sure he's a young guy who's playing unbelievable."
Dennis Schroder talked about setting up a game plan when he's conducting the powerful German orchestra, and one of the main ideas was to get Franz Wagner involved as much as possible early in the games.
The plan worked to perfection, as Wagner scored in double digits in the first halves of every single Germany game at FIBA EuroBasket 2025.
He finished the event averaging 20.8 points, shooting 46.4 percent on 14 attempts per contest, with 5.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.1 steals and an efficiency rating of 21.9 per game.
If there was an award for the most improved player in EuroBasket, 24-year-old Franz would certainly be there. Thiemann has another kind of accolade in his Wagner projections.
"I played with him in (Alba) Berlin and you could really see that's a special talent. It's always hard to say that in four or five years he'd be like this, but he has all the tools. He has a great career ahead of him, for sure an All-Star, we're super happy we have him," the big guy said.
As for the man himself, he has always been extremely easy to talk to, whether it's a one-on-one interview, or if he's surrounded by hundreds of cameras and microphones.
And he always knew how to give credit to the opponents.
"Türkiye played a hell of a game (in the Final), with a lot of energy. Sengun in the post hurt us a little bit. In these games, luck is involved, just momentum plays are part of it, and we made one more play," Wagner said.
Germany played the Final in black jerseys. They celebrated with dark "Champions" caps, and the coaching staff was also in black polo shirts.
Among them, Franz with a white jersey turned around so the name of the player was on his chest. It was, of course, Moritz's white jersey from the national team.
"Talked to him a couple of times already. He's back at home, celebrating. Obviously, we would've loved for him to be here, but that's how it goes sometimes," Franz smiled.
Although wearing your brother's jersey looks like a simple gesture, it speaks volumes about how confident Franz really is. As soon as Moe suffered that long term injury, Franz packed his jersey.
"We were ready, for sure," he nodded to the notion that they knew something special would happen at EuroBasket 2025, and that jersey would make its way to the podium.
Just like that, the younger brother has now connected the two major titles, winning the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 and this EuroBasket.
"The World Cup was special, it's the World Cup and it was our first time winning. It's tough to win multiple times in a row, when everybody is expecting you to be a good team, and to play with those expectations - it takes a special group to do it twice, and I'm really proud of that," Franz said.
Now, there is another side to the "being the youngest" story.
Wagner is 24, while the senators are in their 30s. Schroder said multiple times it's his idea to play until he's 40, and when you see the spark on Franz's face when asked about the future, it's easy to understand why everybody loves being a part of this team, aged 24 or 34.
"Everybody has to make their own decisions. I can't speak on their future. But I love playing for my national team. We'll see what the future holds, we got enough time to think about that, but now we're gonna enjoy this."
Next time around, Franz Wagner will most probably not be the youngest on the roster. That's okay, it never felt like he was, anyway.
FIBA