Olympic games
Basketball coach wants Schröder as standard bearer – “He has to”
Basketball national coach Gordon Herbert sees Dennis Schröder as the predestined standard bearer for the 2024 Olympics. Photo
© Boris Roessler/dpa
Who should carry the German flag in Paris? Basketball national coach sees Captain Schröder as a logical choice. He has two wishes and one plan for 2024.
Basketball national coach Gordon Herbert has his captain Dennis Schröder called for as flag bearer for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
“He has to! He is world champion and MVP of the World Cup – it doesn’t get any better than that. He has also done a lot for Germany and basketball in the country. Dennis would be the right choice,” said the 64-year-old head coach of “Sport Bild”.
Schröder himself made similar statements after the World Cup title in Manila. “I have to carry the flag! If not now, then when? It would be a great honor for me,” the 30-year-old told “Bild”. The now retired basketball star Dirk Nowitzki carried the flag at the opening ceremony in Beijing in 2008. There is likely to be serious competition for Paris, for example in the person of Olympic tennis champion Alexander Zverev. The Olympic Games last from July 26th to August 11th.
Herbert criticized the fact that the Olympic preliminary round for basketball is being held in Lille and not in Paris. “It’s disappointing that we’re not playing in Paris. The French players and the association have already commented on it. They’re anything but enthusiastic,” said the Canadian. Herbert expressed two wishes for 2024: He would like to meet Chancellor Olaf Scholz and go to a Coldplay concert. “And I have a plan: I want to fish for salmon on the Canadian west coast in the spring.”