Raptors' Schröder mobbed on return to Germany after FIBA World Cup win

Sep 13 2023, 2:41 pm

Dennis Schröder is probably going to have the best stories of his summer vacation to tell when he reports to Toronto Raptors training camp for the first time next month.

This week, the 29-year-old point guard got to experience the tournament of a lifetime, with his German national team beating Serbia on Sunday for a FIBA World Cup gold medal. With a strong performance throughout the tournament — save for a quarterfinal performance that Schröder called the worst game of his career — Toronto’s new starting point guard was named tournament MVP, a call few were making prior to the FIBA World Cup tipping off.

And while fans in Canada would’ve likely rather seen the Canadians win the gold medal instead of the bronze they ended up with, you can bet that basketball fans back home in Germany were appreciating every second of it.

With the team returning to a parade in Frankfurt on Tuesday, Schröder was front and centre walking through the streets of the German city — taking pictures with fans, signing autographs, and carrying around the FIBA World Cup trophy.

 

 

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As for why he ended up signing with the Raptors this summer? Well, Schröder stated this week he’s a longtime fan of new Toronto coach Darko Rajaković, with the pair previously working together during a stint with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

“I met him five years ago in OKC,” Schröder said of Rajaković in an interview this week with NBA Today’s Malika Andrews on ESPN. “We became friends. I definitely said to my agent, ‘I want to be there’… I think it’s a great fit.”

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