Basketball World Cup | Too good for the patriarchy

The German basketball players made it to the top of the world at the World Cup in Berlin. Photo: imago/camera4+ The plan worked. At least that's what the German Basketball Federation (DBB) will tell you after the home World Cup in Berlin. After the sensational semi-finals on Thursday, the tournament in the capital is already a huge success for the German basketball players - probably the biggest, apart from the bronze medal at the European Championships 29 years ago.

No matter how the semi-final against France and then a possible final or the game for third place turn out: the DBB can take pride in the next top performance of its teams - after the title double for the men and the gold medal for the 3x3 basketball players at the Olympics in Paris.

What the DBB, on the other hand, prefers not to take issue with is the fact that, until recently, the association has done significantly less for the success of its women's team than for that of its men's division. While German basketball players have been investing a lot of money for years to optimally prepare the team for international games and tournaments, significantly less has been invested in women until recently.

Only since Olaf Lange took up his position as national coach eleven months ago has the DBB women been working at the highest level. Even the 54-year-old seemed surprised at times during the World Cup at how well the German basketball players were able to implement the new game system under him.

The fact that the DBB women managed the change in the coaching bench excellently, less than a year before their home World Cup, is further proof of what an extraordinary team is currently on the floor.

With their advance into the top four teams in the world, the German basketball players have now rewarded themselves and also given a great gift to all future generations of players. Thanks to the success of Leonie Fiebich, Nyara Sabally and Co., the DBB no longer has any arguments for treating the women's area differently than the men's.

In order to get to this point, the German basketball players also had to assert themselves against the structures that should actually have supported them.

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