“I would rather tame a lion than teach a cat how to roar, so to speak”. This was how Germany’s coach, Gordon Herbert, described the Deutsche brothers, Moritz Wagner and Franz Wagner. That statement in itself speaks volumes about the Berlin natives. But then again, fans of the Wagner brothers back in the States are already aware of this. Playing for the Orlando Magic, the two have already won plenty of hearts with their aggressive attacks, deadly precision, and playful personality.

Moritz Wagner is the oldest of the pair. Born on April 26, 1997, the 6’11, 245-pound center is 27 years old. Basketball, unsurprisingly, wasn’t Moe’s first choice of sport. After all, basketball trails far behind soccer in popularity in Deutschland. “Everybody kind of started playing soccer in Germany, so I did too,” Wagner revealed during a casual interview with Matt Murschel for Orlando Sentinel in 2021. But somewhere along the way, he switched to basketball and stuck with it.

Moritz Wagner finds his footing in basketball

Seeing a future in the field, Moritz then made sure he would find success in it. His arrival at the University of Michigan was no intervention of fate or a lucky coincidence. A former coaching acquaintance from Germany reached out to the then-Michigan Wolverines’ head coach, John Beilein, in 2014 via email regarding Wagner. For his part, the young hooper sent a self-made highlight video to Beilein, as well.

And it worked. Well, to an extent. The ex-head coach of the Cavs decided to book that flight after a conversation with Johannes Herber. The former German guard played for Beilein during his West Virginia coaching days. “I knew [Wagner] was held in high regard as a great prospect for the local club in Berlin and also for the national youth team. I knew from the way coach used Kevin [Pittsnogle] that Moe could be a good fit in that offense,” Herber recounted.

He was referring to his nearly 7-foot ex-Mountaineers teammate who did his best work in the perimeter. And with such assurance, Beilein visited the Wagner family.

Moe and the Wolverines

John Beilein arrived at the right time. Fresh out of school, Wagner was weighing his options on signing a contract with Alba Berlin or taking the college route in America. Finally, he decided on the latter. “I kind of felt home in Ann Arbor on my visit. It was an easy decision at the end of the day,” Moe said.

Of course, he dealt with all the struggles a rookie would face. On top of that, he was homesick. But there was one aspect where he surpassed his European brethren. In fact, it was perhaps something many young players coming to the States find it difficult to adjust to. “You can come here and be a little bit intimidated by the confidence and swagger some of the other players have,” Herber said, recalling the time a young Moe reached out to him for advice before deciding on Michigan.

“Moe didn’t have to worry about that.” Why? “The good thing about Moe is that he was very confident about his ability.” It was exactly this, coupled with his perseverance, that made him such a favorite with his teammates, coaches, and the home crowd. Wagner’s three seasons with the Wolverines were just as brilliant as the player.

He was named the Most Outstanding Player for the 2018 Big Ten Tournament and led the team to a national championship game. In Moritz’s last season with Michigan, he averaged 14.6 points, 7.1 rebounds, shot 52.8% overall, and a team-best 39.4% from the three.

Watching all of this keenly from the sidelines was none other than his little brother, Franz Wagner. Suffice it to say that what he saw, he liked.

“I was the younger brother who wanted to do what his bigger brother was doing,”: Franz Wagner on his path to the NBA

Born on August 27, 2001, the younger Wagner is 22 years old. And while their age difference is just four years, there is still that awe and respect for his older brother in Franz’s eyes. “I was the younger brother who wanted to do what his bigger brother was doing. Watching him play with a pro team back home in Germany, which was super cool playing in front of 15,000 people, and then watching them go to Michigan and do as well as he did all those things had a huge impact on you,” he confessed to Murschel.

As expected, Franz always hung about Moe. As such, he had an earlier introduction to basketball than his brother. Moe, for his part, was only too happy to play the coach to his brother. He also had a worthy opponent, as the occasion demanded. And a year after the elder Wagner was selected as the 25th pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, Franz committed to Michigan.

Franz had an even more impressive run with the Wolverines, getting better each year. In his sophomore season, Wagner averaged 13 points and 6.3 rebounds per game along with a team-high 30 steals. He also posted 14 double-figure games. He decided to forego his remaining college eligibility, getting drafted as the No. 8 pick by the Magic in July 2021. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect.

Just a month ago, Moritz Wagner, waived by the Celtics, was signed by Orlando. With his brother’s arrival in ‘The Sunshine State,’ the Wagner brothers became the first German siblings to play in the NBA. And they have been better for it. And now, as the pair come together once again to make their homeland proud, France became the latest victim to fall under the German sword.

Despite fouling out after 14 minutes, the other Wagner was still on the floor. And the All-Rookie First-Teamer made sure to put on a show. Among some of the spectacular dunks, the most phenomenal was when Franz landed a posterizing one on France’s pride, Victor Wembanyama. No doubt he’s going to rub it in his brother’s face for quite a long while.

But Moritz Wagner had a word of caution about his brother. “‘I’ll tell you this. Franz is not a good loser. When the game’s not going well and we’re losing, he’s pissed, and that was something he had when he was little.”

As long as it fuels him to work harder, all’s well, wouldn’t you say?