Ten years ago, did you believe Dennis Schroder had a good chance of making the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame? Unless you were Schroder's biggest fan, the answer was probably no.
Yet Schroder has made a strong case for basketball's highest honor through his spectacular international performances this decade. Schroder has been the leader of a German national team that won the 2023 FIBA World Cup and the 2025 EuroBasket, earning MVP in both competitions.
Only six other players have ever earned the World Cup and EuroBasket MVP awards: Sergei Belov, Drazen Dalipagic, Drazen Petrovic, Toni Kukoc, Dirk Nowitzki, and Pau Gasol. All six of these international basketball legends are in the Hall of Fame.
Schroder's NBA resume is very comparable to Kukoc's. The two had stints as starters on competitive teams but came off the bench for the majority (and peak) of their career. Schroder and Kukoc's career high in points per game is just 0.5 points apart. The only real difference was that Kukoc was fortunate enough to be drafted next to Michael Jordan, resulting in Kukoc having three rings to his name.
Schroder defied all odds in international competition
Germany is not historically a basketball powerhouse. Before this decade, the team had only won the EuroBasket competition once and had not finished in the top five of either competition since 2007. In 2019, Germany hit rock bottom with an embarrassing World Cup performance, finishing 18th.
Enter prime Dennis Schroder. In the four international competitions Germany has participated in since the pandemic, they have not finished below fourth. They finished third in the 2022 EuroBasket, won the 2023 World Cup, placed fourth in the 2024 Olympics, and finally won the 2025 EuroBasket.
Schroder has had a successful NBA career as well, averaging a career-high 19.2 points and 6.2 assists in his final season as a Hawk. After the 2017-18 season, Schroder would be traded to the Thunder for a 2022 first round pick (and technically Carmelo Anthony, who was immediately waived). Atlanta was preparing to tank, and Schroder was simply too good for the team's goals. He would go on to finish second in Sixth Man of the Year voting in 2020 on an exciting young Thunder squad.
Some fans will always object to international stars earning a spot in the Hall of Fame. Don't fall victim to this trap. First, it is the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, not the NBA Hall of Fame. Second, international competitions create some of the best viewing experiences in the sport. It is a tournament consisting of people playing for no reason other than their love of the game and the love of their country. Why would we want to discourage players from competing in perhaps the purest form of basketball?
While Schroder was never the best player in the world for the length of an NBA season, he was pretty close for a few international runs. It might take a while, but Schroder will be a Hall of Famer.