It has been a relative trend over the past few years that once certain players leave the Los Angeles Lakers, they find more success. While that might be a stretch for Dennis Schroder, who played for the Lakers in 2020-21 and again in 2022-23, the German has a strong history of leading his national team to great heights.
Most recently, Schroder led Germany to the Finals of the 2025 EuroBasket Tournament. After two full seasons starting in Los Angeles alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis, Schroder is just one win away from winning the biggest competition regarding European national team basketball.
“Dennis Schröder scored 26 points and made 12 assists to help Germany beat Finland 98-86 and reach the EuroBasket final on Friday,” the Associated Press wrote after Schroder and Germany’s semifinal win.
After two previous seasons with the Lakers, Schroder is currently a member of the Sacramento Kings. The 31-year-old point guard has played with a total of nine other teams over the course of his 12-year NBA career. Last season, he played for a total of three teams, the most by a player in recent league history.
Schroder Leading Germany In EuroBasket
Germany has been a leading candidate to win the 2025 EuroBasket Tournament, as along with Schroder, its roster features multiple other NBA players. Most notable are Franz Wagner, Daniel Theis, Isaac Bonga, and Tristan da Silva.
While Wagner is the highest-paid and likely highest-valued NBA player out of that bunch, it has been chiefly he and Schroder leading the team in EuroBasket. Wagner’s 21.1 points per game sit right ahead of Schroder’s 20.9 point mark, while both are the only two on the team also averaging at least 3.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game.
“Germany’s two big guns made sure that Finland did not dream long of an upset as Dennis Schroder and Franz Wagner played otherworldly,” FIBA wrote on their official recap of the semifinal game. “But the award goes to Schroder, who scored 26 points with 4 three-pointers and also dished out 12 assists, the most by any player in a EuroBasket Semi-Final over the last 30 years.”
Though getting past the other top NBA players in the EuroBasket Tournament is an accomplishment in itself, Schroder has a history of leading Germany in international basketball competitions.
His highlights include helping Germany win the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup, in which he won tournament MVP and beat Team USA in the semifinals. Schroder also led Germany in scoring during both the 2017 and 2022 EuroBasket Tournaments, and was the country’s flag bearer at the 2024 Paris Olympics, in which the team finished fourth.
Career In the NBA, Former LeBron Teammate
Schroder’s career in the NBA would be classified as that of a journeyman. Besides the five straight seasons with Atlanta Hawks to start his tenure in the league, the point guard has only played on one team in consecutive seasons once. That came with the Oklahoma City Thunder from 2018-2020, but since then, Schroder has moved at least once in each of the subsequent seasons.
Now heading into the 2025-26 NBA season, Schroder is a member of the Kings. After playing parts of last season on each of the Brooklyn Nets, Golden State Warriors, and Detroit Pistons, the German point guard now heads to a team in flux after trading De’Aaron Fox to the San Antonio Spurs.
Regardless, Schroder has been an impactful player on multiple teams throughout his time in the league. While on the Lakers with James, Schroder started nearly 90% of the team’s games in two seasons in which Los Angeles made the playoffs.
In the Lakers’ title-defending season of 2020-21, Schroder was third on the team in scoring behind only James and Davis. That trend was bucked in his second stint in Los Angeles, but that team featured other prominent players like D’Angelo Russell, Russell Westbrook, and Austin Reaves.
Though they played just two seasons together, James has consistently held Schroder in high regard, posting “Yessir!! So happy to have you back!! You’re like that! LFG!!!” when his signing with the Lakers was announced in 2022.
Schroder is one win away from leading Germany to their second EuroBasket title in history and is a likely shoe-in for the competition’s All-Tournament team.
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