German basketball players in the NBA

With basketball legend Dirk Nowitzki retired, Dennis Schröder, 27, could be the next to win an NBA title. After two seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder, the German guard was traded to the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers, where he will play with NBA stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

Kleber has three things in common with Nowitzki: he is German, was born in Würzburg and has suited up Dallas Mavericks. After spending two seasons as Nowitzki's teammate in Dallas, Kleber is now the only German big-man on the Mavericks. Unlike the basketball legend, Kleber is more of a role player for Dallas next to young Slovenian star Luka Doncic.

Theis is entering his fourth season with the Celtics and is the team's starting center. A bench player in his first two seasons, the German big man became a go-to option for coach Brad Stephens. Though he's small for a center at 6-foot-9 (2.05 meters), Theis makes up for it with versatile defending, grit and solid 3-point shooting.

After not receiving much playing time in his first NBA season with the Los Angeles Lakers, Bonga, 21, regularly featured for the Wizards. He averaged 5.0 points and 3.4 rebounds in just under 19 minutes per game for Washington last season.

Wagner, 23, featured nearly as much for the Wizards last season as Bonga, averaging 8.7 points and 4.9 minutes in 18.6 minutes per game. The 6-foot-11 big man was a star at the University of Michigan, reaching the final of college basketball's March Madness tournament in 2018

After three years in Houston, Hartenstein, 22, has reportedly signed with the Denver Nuggets. A second-round draft selection in 2017, the Oregon-born German big man never broke into the Rockets rotation under Mike D'Antoni. Perhaps a move to Colorado will improve his career trajectory, though he will likely have to compete with Bol Bol for regular minutes off the bench.