Johannes Voigtmann was among the players who sensationally won the world championship in 2023. Going forward, however, the former co-captain will no longer play for the DBB team.
Johannes Voigtmann of FC Bayern Munich is ending his career with the national team after eleven years. “Very few manage to retire at the peak of their careers. I believe this is a very good moment for me,” said the 33-year-old 2023 World Champion and 2025 European Champion in an interview with the Münchner Merkur/tz media group.
Since his debut in 2014, the Eisenach native has been part of the DBB team at every tournament and, in recent years, has also served as co-captain alongside team leader Dennis Schröder. In total, the big man has taken the court for Germany at four European Championships, two World Championships, and two Olympic Games. While he was able to win a second medal at the 2022 European Championships—a bronze—the DBB team only managed to finish in 4th place at the 2024 Olympics.
EuroBasket “marred” by knee injury
“I actually wanted to retire after the Olympics and had discussed it with Alex Mumbru. He convinced me to stick around for one more year and play in the EuroBasket,” Voigtmann continued. “I’m grateful to him for that, because it was another wonderful summer—even if it was somewhat marred by my serious injury.”
The player, who has made 128 appearances for the national team, had suffered a serious knee injury during the preliminary round of the tournament and was subsequently unable to play. But especially during the World Cup victory two years earlier, he was a key pillar of the team on the court, and with his rebounding, spacing, and basketball IQ, he consistently set up other players like Schröder and Franz Wagner to shine on offense. Voigtmann delivered his best performance when it mattered most in the final against Serbia, where he was the third-leading scorer behind Schröder and Wagner with 12 points and 8 assists on a nearly perfect shooting percentage.
Voigtmann is now set to officially bid farewell to the DBB team during Thursday’s World Cup qualifying game between Germany and the Netherlands in Cologne.