Dennis Schroder roasts Maxi Kleber over skipping EuroBasket: 'You don't have a game' / News - Basketnews.com

Dennis Schroder didn't like Maxi Kleber's attitude last summer, when the Mavs forward preferred to stay out of the EuroBasket. The Toronto Raptors' guard made his feelings abundantly clear while talking on a podcast.

Credit: Swen Pförtner/picture alliance via Getty Images Credit Swen Pförtner/picture alliance via Getty Images

Under NBA star Dennis Schroder, Germany won bronze at the 2022 EuroBasket. It was the country's first medal in 17 years.

Dennis Schroder

Position:PGAge:29Height:185 cmWeight:76 kgBirth place:Brunswick, GermanyProfileNewsStatistics

With the World Cup in Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines (August 25 to September 10), lying ahead, the team wants to win another accolade. "We want a medal," said coach Gordon Herbert. On July 31, the 18-man squad will start preparing in Bonn.

But, before the preparation gets underway, some internal issues need to be resolved. Dennis Schroder took Maxi Kleber apart while talking on the podcast "Got Nexxt" by basketball insider André 'Dre' Voigt.

A year ago, the Dallas Mavericks player had canceled his participation, while now he is in the lineup. Schroder obviously doesn't like that at all.

"Maxi wasn't there last year. If you didn't commit – that was actually the message for all of us – then you won't be there next year either," he told the podcast.

Kleber was injured on his knee at the time. But Schroder still thinks his NT teammate is responsible for his absence.

"If he says 'I will sign my contract this summer and I want to be with the team so that I can earn even more money', then I understand that. But if you say to [national team coach] Gordon Herbert, 'I'm Maxi and I want to train ball handling and work on my game in the summer,' then, sorry Maxi, but you don't have a game.

You throw in the corner, you defend. You're a pick-and-roll player. You're not a Carmelo Anthony type of player. You don't have to work on your game. The older you get, the more you see what your strengths are. And you try to maximize them so blatantly that you can play in the NBA for as long as possible.

For me it's like, 'Maxi, working on your game? You can't play in the NT for that?' That bothered me a little bit, to be honest," Schroder, 29, said.

Kleber has been in Dallas since 2017 and last September, he extended his contract until 2026. Nevertheless, Schroder still resents him skipping the EuroBasket.

Especially because in 2022 players like Moritz Wagner (Orlando Magic) and Isaac Bonga (Bayern Munich) made themselves available for the national team.

"Isaac Bonga, Mo Wagner, them boys, they were there anyway. If Maxi had said, 'Hey, I'm injured, but I'm coming', that would have been different. Then I would say he was there anyway," the Raptors guard continued.

Herbert still has to reduce his squad to 12 men by the start of the World Cup. Schroder fears that team-serving players such as Hamburg's Jonas Wohlfahrt-Bottermann, 33, will have to make way for Kleber.

"It's about the commitment; it's an honor to play for the national team. We made this sexier last year. And now suddenly everyone is at the start again. We have to make sure that this is still fair."

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