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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