The leadership torch belongs to Dennis Schroder.
When Mavericks’ star Dirk Nowitzki announced last week that he would no longer play for his German national basketball team, the Hawks guard was left as the undisputed leader for his country. German coach Chris Fleming, an assistant with the Nuggets, said it will be Schroder who directs a new generation.
“The biggest thing is he was in a situation where he grew a lot in a short time with a very, very increased responsibility and his response to German basketball as a player and also as a role model is very big,” said Fleming, who coached Schroder at last summer’s EuroBasket 2015 Olympic qualifying tournament.