Basketball player appalled by DBBL
Germany’s key player does without USA for EM
06/15/2023, 08:08 am
At just 23 years old, Leonie Fiebich is already the most valuable player and cup winner in Spain. At the European Basketball Championships, she plays the key role in the German team. For this she even makes the US league wait while she is appalled by the Bundesliga.
Leonie Fiebich has to smile a little. The 23-year-old has not given as many interviews as she has these days in the past year. But the cheerful nature, born in Landsberg am Lech, takes the unfamiliar hype about her person calmly, no, she is even happy about it. After all, the reason for the increased interest in her and in German women’s basketball in general is a very positive one: For the first time in twelve years, Germany is back at a women’s European Championship. From this Thursday on, Fiebich and Co. in Slovenia want to ensure that their sport, which otherwise eke out a shadowy existence, remains in the spotlight for a little longer.
“I’m really looking forward to this tournament and I’m really in the mood for it,” said Fiebich. In order to take part in the European Championships in Slovenia and Israel, she also waived a possible move to the USA. “It’s really important to me to play for the national team. I’ve been in the senior squad for five years now and we’ve been working so hard to qualify since then,” said Fiebich. “And that moment in Bosnia, when we finally qualified, that was such a goose bumps moment that I just felt like playing a good tournament with the girls,” said Fiebich. “That’s why I decided against America this summer and for the European Championship.”
Most valuable player in the league
Fiebich is currently under contract in Spain in Zaragoza. There she won the cup last season and was named the most valuable player in the league. Her rights in the American WNBA belong to New York Liberty. “I’m in contact with New York. I think I’ll go there next summer,” said Fiebich. Now the focus is on the EM: “We want to get through the preliminary round,” she announced.
However, the 1.92 tall winger has not always been as cheerful and motivated as she is these days. In 2021 she moved from Wasserburg to the French club Flammes Carolo Basket Ardennes. A change that almost ruined her career. “I had a really bad experience with the trainer, who completely robbed me of my self-confidence,” said Fiebich in retrospect. “I was totally insecure then.”
Luckily, the chance to move to Australia arose spontaneously. Although not quite as high-class in terms of sport, the Australian serenity and the good weather still got Fiebich’s career going again. “Australia then just gave me my self-confidence again and also brought back my creativity,” said Fiebich about the time in Perth. “You spend a lot on the beach, enjoy life a bit and I think that was incredibly important for me.” Newly adjusted and with a lot of self-confidence, Fiebich then moved to Spain and played the best season of her career so far in Zaragoza. Cup win, award for the best player of the season. “The season was just amazing,” said Fiebich.
Anger about German league
There are reasons why she turned her back on her homeland. “The quality of the DBBL is going down drastically, the level is much lower than elsewhere,” Fiebich told the Süddeutsche Zeitung. It bothers her “how the league raises it, it all seems so unprofessional”. On the other hand, in Spain “former players are in key positions, they have much more expertise – while in Germany people are responsible who have no plan at all”. The fact that the 2026 World Cup will take place in Berlin is “of course cool”. But Fiebich sees nothing of the big turnaround: “From the outside it looks like an upswing, but nothing has actually changed in perception in Germany.”
Fiebich wants to change that. Even the European Championship, MagentaSport shows all German games free of charge, should be advertising for women’s sport: “We hope that we can generate more attention.” After all, the women “put just as much work into it as the men”. Fiebich himself is the best example of this.
Great praise from the national coach
She plays a central role in the plans of the new national coach Lisa Thomaidis. “Leonie is an outstanding talent. It makes a big difference for the team if she is on the field,” said the Canadian, who has only been in charge since this summer. “We’re a completely different team with her.”
The cooperation between the experienced Thomaidis and the inexperienced German team works, at the end of the preparation there were two victories in Israel and Italy. After the difficult start against co-favorite France this Thursday (8.45 p.m. / Magentasport) against hosts Slovenia (Friday) and Great Britain (Sunday), further successes should follow in order to survive the preliminary round. “And then anything is possible in a tournament like this,” said Fiebich.