German championship
Bayern basketball players as number one in new era
The FC Bayern players celebrate the German championship. Photo
© Andreas Gora/dpa
Bavaria’s basketball players had to wait 1818 days to be crowned champions. After difficult years, the future of the double winners looks rosy – but departures are looming.
Double coach Pablo Laso came to the press conference with a beer in his hand, and his party-loving basketball pros from champion FC Bayern didn’t want to leave it at that. Serge Ibaka was already in the locker room with a cigar and an oversized wheat glass. “We’re going to make the city unsafe today,” announced world champion Andreas Obst after the first Munich game. Championship since 2019. When asked how much he would drink, the 27-year-old simply said: “Open end.”
1818 days of – at times agonizing – waiting were over on Friday evening when Bayern defeated long-time rivals Alba Berlin 88:82, thus completing their own coronation in game four of the final series. Just in time for the start of a new era, which is set to begin this autumn with the opening of the modern SAP Garden as their new home venue, the Munich team is once again number one in basketball Germany.
Wet before the press
Before the flight home, Obst, Isaac Bonga and star player Carsen Edwards had enough time to savour their own triumph in the capital. At the moment of victory, a huge burden seemed to fall from the shoulders of the top favourite. “I feel very drained. It is a great relief that we have finished the season with the aim of winning two national titles. It was up and down,” said Obst. Successful coach Laso could not avoid the obligatory shower after his successful debut season and appeared before the press completely wet.
Three hours before kick-off of the European Football Championship in Munich, the concentrated Munich football celebrities were not in the hall at Berlin’s Ostbahnhof. But the significance of the success after four seasons without a championship title was still gigantic. “It’s really important for the organization. It’s also a milestone for me personally,” said national player Bonga. Cup victory, first place in the main round and now a splendid 9:2 record in the playoffs. Nationally, things were going ideally for the Munich team.
A title for Paul Zipser
“It’s a bit of time to celebrate. An incredibly great feeling, it’s the reward for an entire season,” said managing director Marko Pesic at Dyn about the sixth championship title in the club’s history. The 47-year-old remembered a team and a professional who failed to achieve this success three years ago.
“That was the team that was narrowly eliminated in the Euroleague playoffs. A lot of things happened, especially the thing with Paul Zipser. I would like to dedicate this title to the team and especially to Paul. That was a very special team,” said Pesic. Zipser was diagnosed with a brain tumor in June 2021. The news came in the final series against Alba Berlin. The series was lost.
Ibaka before jumping
“We’ve had to put up with crap for four years. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves. With this double, congratulations to the whole club, to Herbert Hainer and Uli Hoeneß, who called me,” said Pesic after the 3-1 series victory over the constant rival from the capital. But he is especially thinking of Paul, “who means a lot to me.” The 30-year-old is now playing in his hometown of Heidelberg again.
Laso did not want to talk about how much of the championship team would remain on Friday evening. The 56-year-old said that there would be time for that “from tomorrow”. Leandro Bolmaro and veteran Ibaka are being courted by top clubs. The former NBA champion Ibaka could move to Real Madrid. “We would like to have both players with us, but the market dictates the rules a little,” admitted Pesic.