National coach Olaf Lange advises German basketball players to leave the league
Quick Look
- After losing the bronze game at the home World Cup against Spain (58:81), national coach Olaf Lange recommended that the top players leave the German basketball Bundesliga because, according to him, it was stagnating and developing backwards.
- He criticizes semi-professional structures and catastrophic medical care in the clubs.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
The German basketball players reached the semifinals at the home World Cup in Berlin and lost the bronze game against Spain 58:81. It was their first World Cup participation and they missed out on the first World Cup medal in history.
At the end of the home World Cup, national basketball coach Olaf Lange aggressively advised his players to leave the German league. “I have to make sure that our top players go abroad. As long as nothing happens in the league, it will be difficult to maintain this success,” said Lange in the evening. The basketball players had previously clearly lost the bronze game against Spain 58:81 and missed out on their first World Cup medal.
Alexandra Wilke, Britta Daub and Emma Eichmeyer are three of the twelve players who play in the women's basketball Bundesliga, which, according to Lange, has not only stagnated in recent decades but has even developed backwards.
National coach: Better structures in 2002 than in 2026
“My time in the Bundesliga was from 1995 to 2002. Back then we had better structures in the top clubs than we have today - and we are in 2026. That says it all. It’s very declining,” Lange said. His team surprisingly reached the semi-finals in Berlin and defeated European champions Belgium on the way there. Fourth place at a World Cup is the best result in the history of German basketball players.
If the national coach has his way, the league cannot keep up with the progress of the national team. The situations at the clubs are “semi-professional. “Medically, the situations are catastrophic,” criticized Lange.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
More top German basketball players will leave the women's basketball Bundesliga to play abroad.
Likely · Within months
Open Questions
- What specific steps is the German Basketball Association planning to improve the league?
- How do the clubs in the women's basketball Bundesliga react to the national coach's criticism?
- Which players will actually turn their backs on the league?
