Dennis Schroder Battling The Odds at EuroBasket with Monkey Chants Hitting a Nerve

Dennis Schroder has faced his fair share of trials and tribulations in both the NBA and back home in Germany. Now, he is leading his nation at EuroBasket 2025.

The point guard has been a staple of the German national team and was their official flag-bearer at the 2024 Paris Olympics. He and his national teammates could not get past hosts France in the semi-finals that time, fueling a desire to do better at EuroBasket.

The German national team currently leads Group B after winning all four of its opening group games. In the third of those games, they faced Lithuania, and in that near-20-point win, Schroder had an unpleasant experience.

Germany captain Dennis Schroder faced racial abuse during his team’s 107-88 victory over Lithuania at EuroBasket on Saturday, and one fan was banned from attending the rest of the tournament by FIBA officials.

The Associated Press revealed

FIBA officials had identified 2 people as the alleged perpetrators of the abuse. The organization then proceeded to eject them from the Tampere Deck Arena in Finland.

It is unknown if those fans were Lithuanian or Finnish, or from another nation. Either way, FIBA is taking a stand against such racist behavior and is using video surveillance to pinpoint the perpetrators.

Even if those monkey chants unnerved the Sacramento Kings guard, he went on to score a game-high 26 points, while also adding 6 assists and 4 steals to his statistics. Those numbers helped Germany win the game 107-88.

Dennis Schroder condemns racism at EuroBasket 2025

During and after that game, EuroBasket caught wind of the situation and tracked down the 31-year-old for a comment. Dennis Schroder did not hold back and addressed the ongoing problem in European basketball.

Making monkey noises, that’s something I don’t respect. No matter what status, insults, that’s all fine. But racism simply doesn’t belong in this sport. That’s something that’s not OK.

Dennis Schroder as quoted by the Associated Press

The 2023 FIBA World Cup MVP knows this problem is still prevalent in European basketball, and even though authorities try to rein in the perpetrators, the issue has not completely subsided.

For someone who has grown up around White people and was asked some rather difficult questions, he knows how to handle it. But the mere occurrence has cast a dark cloud over the tournament, as the organizers hoped it was about bringing Europe together.

Dennis Schroder and Germany set to face hosts Finland in final group B clash

After their clash against Lithuania, Dennis Schroder and his German national teammates took on Great Britain. The captain played the most minutes and finished with 19 points.

But more importantly, the role players got a chance to play significant minutes as they blew out the hapless Brits 120-57. The 63-point win marks the biggest margin of victory at EuroBasket 2025.

The Germans currently lead the tournament in point differential, which, if they continue to hold by the end of the group games, should place them top among all participating teams.

To ensure that happens, they will next have to win a tough game against Finland. Led by Lauri Markkanen, the host nation was dominant in its first three games.

The 7-foot-tall Utah Jazz star has been on a tear and stands second behind Los Angeles Lakers and Slovenia superstar Luka Doncic in points per game.

However, in their last game, the Lithuanians restricted Markkanen to just 19 points. If Schroder and his teammates can follow a similar plan of attack, they could upset the host nation in their final group game and enter the knockout stages as the tournament leaders.

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