LAUSANNE (Switzerland) - Hannes Steinbach is slowly becoming a big name in German basketball. The power forward is one of the leaders for his country at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2025. And part of the reason for that is his connection to Dirk Nowitzki.
We want to show that we're not only good right now at the senior level but that the youth are improving too.
Steinbach came to the Germany team training camp late and actually did not play in any of the team's preparation games for Lausanne. That is because he was just finishing up an excellent close to his professional season in Germany.
Steinbach averaged 13.8 points and 10.8 rebounds per game in the Semi-Finals of the German Bundesliga playoffs for Wurzburg, who ended up losing their best-of-five matchup with Ratiopharm Ulm in five games.
"It gives me a good confidence," said Steinbach, who played almost the entire season as an 18-year-old. "Now being here with all these guys, it gives me confidence because they trust in me."
Steinbach had an up-and-down first season with Wurzburg - including strong stretches of play and then times when he barely got to the court.
"I learned to always stay consistent, even if you have bad times in the season or now in this tournament. If you have one bad game, it doesn't affect your next game. Just stay consistent, look forward to the next games," said Steinbach, who averaged 9.1 points and 6.9 rebounds per game for the season in the German BBL.
If you hear big man and Wurzburg and think of Dirk Nowitzki, that shouldn't be a surprise since the former German star is one of the city's greatest athletes in history.
And he happens to have a strong relationship with Steinbach.
Nowitzki played for five years with Burkhard Steinbach, Hannes' father and one of the club's most beloved characters. The elder Steinbach played 139 Bundesliga games for Wurzburg, including many alongside a young Nowitzki.
Burkhard Steinbach used to spend a lot of time with Nowitzki and his mentor Holger Geschwindner, often having the two of them over at his house. When Hannes began playing the game, he was coached by his father, and the younger Steinbach attended Geschwindner's summer camp multiple times in Germany.
The Steinbach-Nowitzki relationship remained over the years and Dirk would often visit his former teammate when he was in Germany. That gave the young Hannes multiple opportunities to get to know Nowitzki.
"When I was younger, he used to come to our home with his family," said Hannes, who said those visits haven't come as often over recent years. "I didn't really see him that often, but we still have a good relationship."
About those early visits when Nowitzki had already won his NBA title with Dallas in 2011, Hannes recalled: "At that moment I didn't really realize it and process it because I wasn't really that much into basketball at that age.
"But now I think it's really crazy that I got to meet him and just talk to him."
The younger Steinbach doesn’t have that much communication with Nowitzki nowadays.
"He just congratulated me on the season but that was about it."
Steinbach really values that Nowitzki has taken such an important role with FIBA as the Chairman of the Players' Commission. And Nowitzki will be in Lausanne for the championship.
"It's really cool that he is here supporting FIBA and showing his face. He's really exciting. He's the best German player to ever play the game, so it's really cool to see him here," Steinbach said.
Nowitzki of course was the first German to win an NBA title. He also helped the national team to third place at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2002 and second place at the FIBA EuroBasket 2005. And now it's Steinbach's turn to leave a mark on the game while wearing Deutschland on his chest.
Last summer, he was already a member of the All-Star Five at the FIBA U18 EuroBasket 2024, which Germany won for their first-ever youth continental crown.
And now he has a chance to lead Germany to their first-ever podium finish at the FIBA U19 World Cup level.
"It's really exciting coming here as European champions from last year. We also have a really good chance," said Steinbach, who opened the FIBA U19 World Cup with 19 points and 19 rebounds in Germany's 75-68 win over Slovenia. "It's really great to play against the best in your age and to measure with them."
Steinbach did not really want to talk about a specific objective the team has in Lausanne.
"It's really hard to say, but I think our goal is to just win every game that we play and then see how far it goes," he said.
And when asked what it would mean to hear the German national anthem played after the Final on July 6, Steinbach said: "It would be the best experience of my career so far for sure, and I think for all of our group and for our country it would be a really great moment for German basketball.
"We want to show that we're not only good right now at the senior level but that the youth are improving too."
And the play of Hannes Steinbach will play a major role in seeing how far Germany can go.
FIBA