Moritz Wagner – A German Professional Basketball Player

Moritz Wagner is one giant of a basketball player and we mean this literally because of his height. He is from Germany and currently plays professional basketball as a forward with the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Before going pro, he had been actively playing the sport right from high school through to college in the University of Michigan. Though he initially stated his eligibility to be drafted to the NBA without an agent, he rescinded this action and was fortunately chosen by the Lakers as the 25th overall pick in the NBA draft in 2018. In the same year, he has been named to the Final Four All-Tournament Team as well as the West Region All-Tournament Team.

Moritz "Moe" Wagner popularly known as Moritz Wagner, was born in Berlin, Germany, on the 26th of April 1997. He attended high school at Rosa-Luxemburg-Oberschule. He has loved the game of basketball for the longest time he can remember. This interest and passion led him to join the Alba Berlin youth ranks. This was practically when his career in basketball began. It was during the 2011-2012 season that his very first appearance for the under-16 Bundesliga team was made. The following season, Moritz grew to become a key player on the team.In the 2014-2015 season, he was able to make his debut in the German top-flight as well as get a spot on the roster of the Berlin Bundesliga. In this debut in which his team played against BG Göttingen, Moritz Wagner was able to score six solid points in 6 minutes and 15 seconds.

NBA Career

Considering his performance playing on the in the Bundesliga, a former coaching acquaintance of John Beilein, the head coach of the Univerity of Michigan's basketball team, sent a video of Moritz to the Beilein showing the skills of the young player. Upon viewing this video, Beilein sought to make further inquiries so he contacted Johannes Herber, a former Alba Beilein player he once coached for a period of four years while he was studying at the West Virginia University.Wagner later announced his desire to attend college at the University of Michigan during the 2015-2016 season. Moreover, he only wanted to be a part of the basketball team not play professionally per se. As a freshman at Michigan, he was part of the "First Four round of the 2016 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament" on the 16th of March where Tulsa was defeated by Michigan 67-62. In the game season, Moritz Wagner posted four blocks, blocked two shots all season and recorded eight rebounds in total. At the end of his freshman year, he finished with 2.9 points, an average of 8.6 minutes and 1.6 rebounds.

Moritz Wagner was named valuable player after the awe-inspiring performance in the Big Ten Tournament championship match played against Purdue on the 4th of March 2018. In the game, he helped his team clinch their second consecutive title of theBig Ten Tournament championship after scoring a total of 17 points. He also got 6.5 rebounds on 15.8 points. At the tail end of the season, Moritz Wagner recorded a total of three point shots, a team best of 39.4%, 7.1 rebound and an overall 52.8% shot.

Professional Career And National League

He no doubt had a stellar run while laying for the Michhiigans and this paid off big time when he got chosen with the 25th overall pick by the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA draft in 2018. His rookie contract was thus signed with the lakers on the 1st of July 2018. Some other interesting fact worthy of note is that Moritz Wagner was part of his national team in Germany who won emerged victorious with a gold medal at the under-18 European Championship (Division B) played in Bulgaria, in 2014. Also, Moritz recorded the highest individual scores for Germany at the FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship in 2017, with 16.1 points average per contest.