Germany’s Dennis Schroder and head coach Gordon Herbert fought during FIBA World Cup win over Slovenia. Why?
Though they won, the German team certainly didn’t give a good account of itself as was evidenced by the fight between its star and the head coach.
Germany’s star appeared to get involved in a heated exchange with the team’s coach during the solid win on Sunday, which begs the question of how the team will move forward now that the business end of the 2023 FIBA World Cup is about to start.
Germany’s Dennis Schroder and Gordon Herbert have it out
If you caught Sunday’s FIBA World Cup Game between Germany and a Luka Doncic-led Slovenia, then you will know that the Bavarians’ blowout 100-71 win over Doncic and Co. was not the biggest talking point. No, that honor belongs to Toronto Raptors guard Dennis Schroder, one of several notable NBA players participating in this summer’s FIBA World Cup, who got into an altercation with Germany head coach Gordon Herbert. With a little more than four minutes remaining in the first quarter, the German players were huddled near their bench during a timeout.
Schroder at the time could be seen engrossed in a heated conversation with teammate Daniel Theis, a six-year NBA veteran who most recently played for the Indiana Pacers. It was at this point that Herbert attempted to get Schroder’s attention as he could be heard shouting, “Hey, let’s go! F---! Sit down.” Herbert then grabbed Schroder’s shoulder in an attempt to move him toward the bench, to which Schroder appeared to respond sharply with, “You’re not gonna touch me like that.” Herbert then snapped back with “I know, I’m just telling you to sit down.”
What did Dennis Schroder say about the incident?
Nothing if we’re honest and neither did Herbert, though it’s worth noting that both Schroder and Theis were subbed out during the aforementioned timeout. Herbert did say, however, that the situation “will be handled internally.” With that said, Schroder who finished the game with a team-high 24 points and 10 assists, did speak about his argument with Theis, something he described as simply being rooted in competitiveness.
“I mean, basketball is an emotional sport,” Schroder said post-game. “It’s a game of runs, and you gotta stay cool. Me and Daniel go way back, I have known him since I was 12 or 13. We had those kinds of moments when we were young as well, but it always helped us to elevate our game. That’s what happened today. We got into it, and I told him, ‘Listen, that’s what you gotta do, and you can tell me the same thing.’ Of course, he’s going to be pissed a little bit. It will itch a little bit, but he will give his all. I think that’s what happened.”
Was Gordon Herbert wrong?
With a career that has spanned decades and seen him work in both the NBA and Germany’s national framework, Gordon Herbert has worked all over the globe. In 2022 he helped Germany to claim a bronze medal at the European Championships having been named national coach the year before. Incidentally, Schroder led that team in scoring and assisting. This is to say, that both men know each other well such that any argument between them shouldn’t be a cause for concern as after all, “basketball is an emotional sport” as Schroder put it. On the other hand, the fact that there was physicality involved is definitely concerning, and even more so when considering the way in which Schroder reacted. Ultimately, Germany will likely have to sort out whatever the problem is, before the team’s first knockout stage game against Latvia on Wednesday.