By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
Imagine telling your descendants that you used to play professional basketball in the same team as your brother, in the NBA. On top of that, imagine saying that you won one bronze medal at EuroBasket and then you found yourself on top of the world, claiming gold after beating Team USA and Serbia.
That’s the Wagner brothers’ life, as Moritz and Franz not only share their daily experiences with the Orlando Magic but have also been two of the most important assets in Gordon Herbert’s national team since the start of this new successful program.
Entering the Quarter-Finals stage in their first Olympic Games together – the second one for Mo after Tokyo 2021 -, they destroyed France in the last game of Group B in Lille.
Not gonna lie, we are still thinking of this dunk by Franz Wagner 🥶🇩🇪
Is this the dunk of the tournament? 🤔 #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/BhjZYzZDDH
— Eurohoops (@Eurohoopsnet) August 3, 2024
While Moritz put physical presence and effort into conditionate the French national team’s centers, Frnz stole the show with a brilliant 26-point night that included two poster dunks that left Victor Wembanyama speechless.
At the moment, they are the flashiest and most interesting brotherhood duo in the basketball scene worldwide, and they want to complete the three-year program by capturing another medal, the first one for German basketball at the Olympics.
They could become another couple of brothers capable of achieving such an outstanding goal, and the latest of such duos to capture everybody’s attention not only as brothers but also as countrymen and national teammates. The list gets larger, but there are other cases from the past and present.
Pau and Marc Gasol – Spain
When it comes to putting the words “brothers” and “basketball” together, you can’t list anything but start with the Gasol brothers. They have been the future, present, and past of the movement in Spain.
Franz and Moritz Wagner would be extremely satisfied if they achieve even half of Marc and Pau’s resumes, which also include two silver medals won together at the Olympic Games, in London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro 2016, losing on both occasions to USA Basketball in the final.
The Gasol duo also contributed together to the Spanish national team’s gold success at the World Cup in 2006 and in four EuroBasket medals (gold in 2009 and 2011, silver in 2007, and bronze in 2017).
The Antetokounmpo Brothers – Greece
What about three instead of two? That’s what the Antetokounmpo brothers historically did at EuroBasket 2022, all playing under the Greek flag representing their country.
While Giannis is clearly the most talented out of the three – while also Alex is emerging for the future -, both Thanasis and Kostas have always shown pride in wearing the Greece national team’s jersey.
Yet to grab a medal together with Greece, they could have fulfilled their dream in Paris, but injuries forced both Thanasis and Kostas out of the Olympic stage.
Entering the Quarter-Finals as the leading scorer of the Olympics with 27.0 points per game, the Greek Freak Giannis Antetokounmpo will try to do it for both his country and his family.
Florent and Mickael Pietrus – France
There are cases in which basketball is spread into both brothers’ blood within the same family, but one lives a way more enriching career. It’s the case of Mickael Pietrus, who played in the NBA for a decade while his brother Florent never managed to cross the Atlantic Ocean.
On the other side, however, the latter had way more success national-team wise, grabbing five medals between EuroBasket (bronze in 2005 and 2015, silver in 2011, gold in 2013) and the World Cup (bronze in 2014). Together, they won the bronze medal at EuroBasket 2005 with the French national team.
Moreover, the next generation of Pietrus is already on the big stage. Before winning the ACB title with Unicaja Malaga in the 2005-06 season, Florent had a newborn at 24 years of age.
Fast forward to today’s events, the 2005-born Illan Pietrus is one of the faces of the new wave of talent coming from the next generation of French basketball. Talking about legacies.
Dairis and Davis Bertans – Latvia
If Latvia went only one victory away from an unprecedented and historic place at the Olympic Games, a huge credit must be given to the Bertans brothers.
Similar to the French Pietrus’ case, Davis has had way more success in the NBA than Dairis, who only had a short stint with the New Orleans Pelicans. But what they have been doing together for the Latvian national team is beyond incredible.
Contributing to a quarter-final spot at EuroBasket 2017, where they were among the protagonists of an absolute spectacle against Slovenia, the Bertans brothers were part of the unbelievable 5th spot finish at last year’s FIBA Basketball World Cup.
Dairis was forced to miss the final phase, but he stood still cheering for his brother and all the rest of Luca Banchi’s team from the sideline in Manila.
Willy and Juancho Hernangomez – Spain
According to most viewers, they were asked to repeat the impossible, as in becoming the next Marc and Pau Gasol. For the vast majority of their careers, Juancho and Willy Hernangomez were trying to find their way in the NBA, just like their legendary countrymen and predecessors.
With Spain, they have been living the latest winning trajectory of Sergio Scariolo’s program: together, they won at EuroBasket U20 (silver in 2014), at EuroBasket (bronze in 2017 and gold in 2022, with Willy named MVP of the tournament), and at the World Cup (gold in 2019).
Since the summer of 2023, moreover, the two have made their return to Europe, respectively with EuroLeague champions of Panathinaikos and Barcelona.
The Olympic Games in Paris ended earlier than expected, but everybody – Canada excluded, maybe – could have been eliminated from the Group of the Death without huge surprises. At EuroBasket 2025, the Spanish brothers will go back at it.