German-born NBA player M. Wagner (born April 26, 1997) currently competes for the Orlando Magic in the NBA’s Eastern Conference (NBA).
He began his professional career with Alba Berlin before heading to the United States to play college basketball for the Michigan Wolverines from 2015 until his junior year of high school (2017–18).
The forward had initially entered the 2017 NBA draught without an agent, but he later withdrew and went back to school at Michigan. The Los Angeles Lakers picked him with the 25th overall choice in the 2018 NBA draught.
Both the coaches and media voted him to the 2018 All-Big Ten Second Team. Following the season, he was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2018 Big Ten Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament for his role in the team’s victory.
He was so outstanding in the 2018 NCAA Basketball Tournament that he was selected to both the West Region and Final Four All-Tournament Teams.
M. Wagner and Germany Go to Tokyo
Germany faced the tournament’s hottest squad after advancing to the finals by defeating the host nation Croatia. Before the last game, Brazil had three wins by 20+ points. However, the German national team prevailed in a tight 75-64 contest, securing their spot in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Supporting M. Wagner’s 28 points on 9/12 FG were Robin Benzing’s 13 points, Maodo Lo’s 10 points, and Johannes Voightmann’s 11 points (8 p. 11 r.).
Germany was up 52-46 with three minutes left in the third quarter, and M. Wagner had 20 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field. So far in the game, Alex Garcia of Brazil has been the only other player to score in double figures.
M. Wagner Got Into Foul Trouble Against Host Croatia in Semifinal Round
When M. Wagner was in the semifinals against host Croatia, he picked up four fouls in the first half and could only play for a total of 11 minutes, scoring six points.
Germany outscored Croatia by a score of 30-13 in the final 12 minutes of the game to defeat them by a score of 86-76 and move to the title game. Bojan Bogdanovic (Utah Jazz) scored 38 points for Croatia.
Because of its victory and subsequent qualification, the German National Team will compete at the Olympics as a member of Group B, along with the host nation Australia, the host nation Italy, and Nigeria.
The United States, France, Iran, and the victor of the Czech Republic-Greece final will compete in Group A, while Argentina, Japan, Slovenia, and Spain will represent Group C.
Conclusion
With a 75-64 victory over Brazil, Germany secured a berth in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. M. Wagner had the most valuable player performance with 28 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 steals.
Robin Benzing added 13 points (3/5 FG, 5/5 FT), and Johannes Voigtmann contributed 8 points, 11 rebounds, and 2 assists. Anderson Varejao scored 14 points (7/9 FG) and grabbed 4 boards for Brazil, while Vitor Benite finished with 9 points (on 3/18 shooting), 5 boards, and 3 assists.
