Tuesday, November 02, 2021
Wagner’s magical explosion
The most spectacular dunk of his life
The 20-year-old Franz Wagner needs eight games to explode. The NBA rookie not only scores 28 points, but also an extremely spectacular dunk. Its development is rapid: from “inconspicuous” to “decisive for the game”.
In the dressing room, Franz Wagner’s teammates first acted very cool and then exploded like the young Berliner during the most spectacular dunk of his NBA career. With loud roars and lots of splashing water, the Orlando Magic professionals celebrated the 20-year-old for the exclamation mark as the end of an outstanding performance with 28 points in the 115: 97 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. “I’ve dunked before. But I’ve never dunk like this in my life,” said Wagner after the strong performance on Monday evening.
NBA Twitter celebrated Wagner afterwards with clips and statistics – Wagner cemented the great recognition within the team with his performance in only his eighth game in the best basketball league in the world. “This is proof of his high basketball IQ and his knowledge of this game,” said coach Jamahl Mosley, praising the NBA newcomer. “He’s a selfless player and will always try to make the right decision. If the defense lures him into the trap, he’ll play the ball. He’s not a selfish player at all, he wants to move the ball.” One result: the feed to brother Moritz Wagner, who for his part was completely free to dunk.
In the team with his four-year-old brother, Franz Wagner’s development is rapid. Even in the pre-season training camp, he was hardly noticed by observers, and his statistics did not attract any attention. But since the start of the season two weeks ago, the 2.08-meter slag has felt better in every game. He scored five threesomes against the Timberwolves.
“Especially for young players like me it is of course a really cool situation to learn how the NBA is played and also to work on my game, but also to collect a lot of minutes and get a lot of chances,” said Wagner about the whole thing young team in Orlando. “I think there is no better way to learn. I’m very, very grateful for that.”