Mainz (dpa) – The basketball world champions around Dennis Schröder fully enjoyed their rare moments in the spotlight in front of a large German television audience.

A visit to ZDF’s “Current Sports Studio” turned out to be a nice and funny chat, which culminated in a live broadcast with teammate Andreas Obst. National coach Gordon Herbert’s team burst into collective laughter when a three-person expert obst was called in from a wedding in Bamberg. Co-captain Johannes Voigtmann fought back tears from laughing so hard.

“The wedding is great. It’s also nice to be in Bamberg,” said Bayern professional Obst, as his colleagues immediately started laughing again. In addition to Coach Herbert and captain Schroeder, there were seven other experts in the studio on the World Cup title, which was won with an 83:77 victory over Serbia in Manila last Sunday. “I want them to celebrate now before we think about the Olympics. It’s a once in a lifetime event and they should enjoy it. They deserve it,” said head coach Herbert. Johannes Thiemann said: “If you are a world champion, anything is possible.” A great performance on the goal wall too, where Isaac Bonga shone with two goals.

Only World Cup Final on Free TV

The topic of live broadcasting on free-to-air television is not discussed. In the World Cup, the entire match up to the final could be watched only on Magentasport. The final was also broadcast by ZDF. The title followed eight wins from eight World Cup games, including a 113:111 upset over Olympic champion USA in the semifinals. The United States, which also missed out on World Cup bronze after its loss to Canada, has been the subject of debate in recent days over who could play at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

Superstar LeBron James should also be an option. “I wrote to LeBron and asked him. He said the chances were 50:50,” Schroeder said of the exchange with his former teammates at the Los Angeles Lakers. The USA had twelve NBA professionals at the World Cup in the Philippines. However, many of them had promising talents rather than established stars. About a super team with James and Stephen Curry, Schröder calmly said: “With this team, it doesn’t matter who we play. If we do our things well, we don’t have to hide.”

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