Moritz Wagner has already got to know the hard sides of the NBA, and in between was even without an employer. His younger brother Franz Wagner is rising to stardom there – and is enjoying what little family life there is in the shared apartment. Where the journey will lead remains to be seen.
Franz and Moritz Wagner are aware of their enormous privileges. The brothers not only live together, they have also made basketball their well-paid job and even work for the same club in the strongest league in the world. And are thus part of a “soap opera”, as the 25-year-old Moritz describes it. It is all the more important for both of them to always have each other by their side as a corrective. “We’re good at it,” says Moritz, “reminding each other how special and unique this is.” A lot of the NBA circus is about performance, but “how you feel every day is another thing.”
Franz, 21, also made it into the league last year, and since then the young German has been drawing attention to himself with strong performances at Orlando Magic. Although the playoffs will probably hardly be reached this season either, Franz Wagner shows his skills with a strong 19.3 points per game. The self-confidence that he was able to gather at the home European Championships in the summer, which he thought was “really awesome”, has so far been transported to the NBA halls.
Franz is slowly becoming a star in the USA because he not only acts as a scorer, but can also shine as a ball distributor and regularly defends the opponent’s best players. But he tries not to focus on background noise: “Because you can’t control it anyway.” His brother Moritz has already learned a lot about what you can’t control in the league.
He has experienced many sobering moments during his time in the NBA and got to know the dark side of the business. In the 2018 draft, he was selected by the Hollywood team of the Los Angeles Lakers around superstar LeBron James, but numerous injuries and changes followed – mostly, as usual, without a say.
He was traded from California to the Washington Wizards, then to the Chicago Bulls, who immediately traded Wagner to the Boston Celtics. In Boston he was released after a short time and was in the meantime without a team. Until the Florida franchise took him in in April 2021 and breathed new life into his career. Three months after Moritz Wagner’s signature, Franz was drafted by the Magic. The union of the brothers was perfect, and the Wagner family flat share came into existence.
The elder rated the relationship between the siblings and roommates as a “healthy relationship in which there are sometimes arguments”. Also because of the joint upbringing: “We grew up in a household that showed us that it can also be productive.” Part of this healthy relationship is that the elder doesn’t judge the little brother’s performance despite his status as a top talent: “I want to be there for him as a big brother and enjoy being on this journey with him.”