Players like Isaac Bonga and Andreas Obst have attracted sustained attention at the World Cup. This tends to make a stay in the domestic Bundesliga less likely.
BBL managing director Stefan Holz has warned that the Manila World Champions could leave the Bundesliga after their excellent performances. He said it was natural to lose good players every year. “We are still not at the bottom of the food chain. We will never be. There’s the NBA, and there are also financially strong Euroleague teams that get money from wherever. Logically, we then lose faces,” Holz told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur after the German team’s World Cup title on Sunday.
Mostly the world champions Isaac Bonga and Andreas Obst (both Bayern Munich) as well as Johannes Thiemann (Alba Berlin) attracted attention at the World Cup tournament in the Philippines. “Of course it would do us good if the heroes who also played important roles at the World Cup, like Obst, like Bonga, like JT, if they stayed with us for a bit. That would be great,” said Holz.
Obst still tied for three years
Obst was directly linked to NBA clubs by the media after his sensational 24-point semi-final against Olympic champions USA. When the wing player was asked in the mixed zone in Manila if he had already created a new account for the upcoming vast sums from the NBA, Obst only replied: “I still have a three-year contract in Munich.” That’s where he’ll stay, he said. Obst only extended his long-term contract with Bayern until 2026 this spring.
