11/28/25 10:45:00
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11/28 05:00 CST Wagner brothers are teammates, roommates and best friends
living out their NBA dream with the Magic
Wagner brothers are teammates, roommates and best friends living out their NBA
dream with the Magic
By ROB MAADDI
AP Sports Writer
Franz Wagner fell in love with basketball as a kid in Germany when he went with
his older brother, Moritz, to watch an under-19 game in Berlin.
The Wagner brothers hadn't even thought about playing professionally at that
point. Local hoops was their first exposure to the sport and they were hooked.
Fellow German Dirk Nowitzki became their connection to the NBA. Watching
documentaries on Dwyane Wade and Kevin Garnett got their attention.
Now they're in their fifth season as teammates on the Orlando Magic.
"I remember our grandparents built a little basket in front of the house, and
we would always play no matter the weather," Moe Wagner said. "And then I think
Franz got a LeBron James Cavaliers jersey for Christmas, and I got a Kevin
Garnett jersey, one of those nonauthentic fake jerseys. And I wore them to
every practice. I wanted to wear the gear. I wanted to be part of that
lifestyle and that is when we started watching YouTube videos and games and we
kind of became obsessed with that idea of maybe wanting to do that ourselves as
well."
Playing basketball came easier for the Wagners than soccer or other sports.
"At the start, especially growing up in Germany, it was just purely (playing
for) the fun of it," Franz said. "Having those moments in practice where stuff
is making sense, maybe more sense than in other sports that we've played prior,
and then once we got kind of wind of the NBA and how big of a platform that is
and how big of a production, I think that's when the wheel started turning
pretty quickly for both of us that the dream of playing there one day and going
to America even and just seeing their culture, I think that kind of started a
little bit later."
There are 13 sets of brothers currently playing in the NBA, including Giannis,
Thanasis and Alex Antetokounmpo on the Milwaukee Bucks. It'll be 14 when Seth
Curry is signed. He's expected to eventually join Stephen on the Golden State
Warriors.
The Wagners are four years apart and never played on a team together at any
level until the NBA. Moe Wagner was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers with the
25th pick in the 2018 draft. The 28-year-old, 6-foot-11 center bounced around
from Los Angeles to Washington to Boston before the Magic signed him in April
2021.
Franz, who followed his brother to Michigan, was selected by Orlando with the
eighth pick in the 2021 draft. The 24-year-old 6-10 forward is a top player,
averaging 22.9 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.
"My situation was a lot different than Franz," Moe said. "He was freshly
drafted. I had just gotten waived the year before. So that was a challenge,
which in retrospect, I actually really enjoyed having a brother with me, even
though it was kind of a challenge because he obviously, when the organization
drafts a player, they put everything into him. And you're like, look at your
younger brother. It's like, damn, I wish I had that opportunity, but at the
same time, you're super happy. And in retrospect it actually helped me to
define myself as a player a little bit as well, and I'm very grateful for the
opportunity."
The Wagners are not only teammates but they also live together.
"I think it was a no-brainer for both of us to live together because we missed
some valuable time when he went to college, and just because of basketball,
obviously, being super busy," Franz said. "So we're super happy to get some of
that time back. But at the same time, we're also working together. So that
dynamic is a little bit different. You've got to make sure you don't bring the
frustration sometimes from work home. And then we're also adults now. So, I
think our relationship has changed a great deal in a positive way in the last
couple of years.
"And I think that took us one or two years to kind of figure out how to talk to
each other in a working environment, figuring out this is the face that he's
making when he's mad and maybe you leave him alone for a second and vice versa
for other stuff. I think it's just been a great experience just to get to know
each other as adults on a really close level, which I think other siblings
don't have that opportunity, especially in this type of work."
While Franz plays a big role along with Paolo Banchero, Desmond Bane and Jalen
Suggs for a Magic team expected to contend in the Eastern Conference, Moe
Wagner is still recovering from a torn ACL sustained on Dec. 21, 2024. He was
playing some of his best basketball at the time of the injury and was in the
final year of his contract. Despite the injury and lengthy rehab, the Magic
signed him to a one-year, $5 million deal in July.
"I'm going to get this all the way right," Moe said. "I don't expect anything
to change, other than play winning basketball."
Perhaps he'll be back before the Magic and Memphis Grizzlies play a game in
Berlin on Jan. 15.
"This is probably one of the coolest things that I will ever experience in my
career," Moe said. "I'll speak for myself and Franz here because I know that he
doesn't ever express it the way that I do, but that's very meaningful for us.
Our family, our friends, people that we weren't able to take on this journey
with us to America, get a chance to see us play. Family members get a chance to
see us play. That means a lot. We grew up in that gym. We grew up with that
club. So, to have this opportunity, to have the league and the Magic figure
this out is very meaningful to us."
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