The Basketball Stronghold Of Germany 🇩🇪 | FULL EPISODE | Cologne & Leverkusen

In this episode of Hoop Cities, we learn about the rise and fall of two neighbouring towns that once were the basketball stronghold of Germany. Detlef Schrempf and Tibor Pleiss talk about growing up as a basketball player in Cologne and Leverkusen, and how the future is bright for the young basketball talent in this part of the world.
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[@culturalcrowns]

NBA is doing genius work with these three films (Serbia, Philippines, Germany). We need more of these. Make one about Indiana high school basketball, the Joel Embiid effect in Cameroon. You could literally make a 10-part documentary about Chinese youth basketball.

[@theofficelab]

Love the trajectory of basketball culture in Germany! 🚀

[@kennythekid130]

Congratulations to Germany 🇩🇪 for winning the 2023 FIBA World Cup!!!

[@Bernd67H]

Was eine tolle Doku. Danke an die Macher. Da kamen grossartige Erinnerungen hoch. 👌👏👏👏

[@Sakatirinja]

18:25 Frank Zander. Die alte Shooting Guard Legende, wer kennt ihn nicht?! Von seinen Freunden auch liebevoll "Das Neuköllner Goldkehlchen" genannt...

[@dwsmatos8373]

Wow... I didn't know Leverkusen and Koln were so big and important for basketball in Germany. I only knew these cities because of football. Awesome episode. I would love to an episode about Greece and Croatia.

[@Nr4747]

Braunschweig (where Dennis Schröder is from) and Bamberg are also huge (relatively speaking) for German basketball.

[@leo.ballislife4696]

@@Nr4747 Berlin auch, bin überrascht das wir keine Episode kriegen

[@DaGuys470]

@@leo.ballislife4696 Wahrscheinlich, weil Berlin ein deutlich jüngerer Standort ist. Hier ging es vor allem 2005 mit der Alba-Jugend los, dass man regelmäßig große Talente gezüchtet hat. Klar gab es auch vorher schon gute Jugendteams wie z.B. TuSLi, aber dieses Alba-Projekt hat nochmal alles auf die nächste Stufe gehoben.

[@billkevin4501]

There is a video about Thessaloniki, Greece

[@mr.noodle6931]

Really makes me want to visit Cologne especially. Looks like a beautiful city with great people and great streetball.

[@jpl6037]

The city itself isnt beautiful but people make it beuatiful :)

[@panthersprung5161]

cologne is ugly, go to hamburg instead

[@fritzfischer3648]

The whole city was destroyed by the bombs during ww2, except the Kölner Dom, the cathedral. There are impressive photographies of the destroyed city, but only the Dom still standing. The architecture after ww2 is really ugly. The cathedral alone is worth a visit though.

[@FemiFactory]

awesome city and especially vibes ...come around to Nike Court ! we meet there ;)

[@violentartist560]

​@@panthersprung5161Cologne isn't beautiful but the people make the City and no German city doesn't come close with that regard

[@jsimmons834]

When I went to Germany, I wasn't a fan until I played ball.... well maybe Dresden. Very physical ball playing there outside of vacationing. This is a great series.

[@jonas-p-io]

What a great piece of sports documentary. I used to live in Cologne and played on the Nike court a few times, which makes it even more special to me. Thank you, NBA.

[@meecrobhead]

Cologne is a great city. Used to play there for about 3 years on the Nike court. Almost every day. Miss that time. Great guys.

[@MrElBenno]

Großartiges Video. Ich habe die Zeiten mit Detlef miterleben dürfen und sogar im TV sehen können. Da kommen viele positive Emotionen. Als Scotti Pippen Fan wusste ich zB nicht, dass er in Köln gewesen ist. Wirklich ein sehr gelungenes Video

[@grenadierplueschtier]

Frank Zander so talented. Big time musician, but didn't know he was a big time baller! Thanks Hansi for letting us know!

[@toddi412]

I'm not sure if I meant the musician. 😂 Maybe he meant Klaus Zander.

[@otocyon2431]

@@toddi412 Yeah, they fixed it in the subtitles. It's Klaus Zander.

[@m.heider1580]

Thanks for this great documentary! The guys shown there are all parts of the puzzle that finally ends up in a world championship! 🇩🇪🏀🏆

[@waltmcbride2528]

My beat friend Kannard Johson played for Leverkusen. In late 80s and 90s, I played in Berlin (NSF), Hannover(TKH) Wolfenbuttel(MTV)Hildeheim(ENT)Kolblenz(BG) they were basketball crazy. Physical play was the style. I loved it.

[@2011goodnews]

He was a great PF and Center. We remember him and his congenial partner Clinton Wheeler at the point guard position very well!

[@Matt28284]

Die ganzen Hallen. So viele Stunden dort verbracht. Kurt-Rieß, Grünewald, Spoho, Dopatka. Gegen Tibor und Phil in der Drucklufthalle in Köln. All die Courts. Gott wie schön diese Erinnerungen!

[@YeeSoest]

Amazing, great documentary! The rest of the world even learns something here that the german viewers don't: Around 18:45, he lists some famous players from the 80s and says FRANK ZANDER who is actually a famous entertainer/singer, the subtitle corrects it to KLAUS but the germans will never know and probably have some interesting google searches going on😂

[@user-hf8zv7qw4l]

Now, Germans are the basketball world champions! Congratulations! 🇩🇪🏆

[@gmoney5902]

Diese Zeiten waren special, VOX zeigte damals die ersten NBA Spiele in Deutschland, langweile gab es nicht...in freier Zeit war man auf dem Basketball Platz und es gab immer jemand der gezockt hat.

[@DaGuys470]

28:04 Wow, the memories! I grew up in that very gym with how often I played basketball there.

[@maartenkneiseler]

Fantastic. I recall each youth team being afraid of playing leverkusen in the late 90s. Excellent place for talent development in so many sports... fond memories of watching games in the area and great teams back then: bonn, rhoendorf, leverkusen, hagen etc.... Whilst cologne did lack a great pro-team back then, leverkusen, koeln etc are all part of the 'rhineland' and somewhat interlinked: 'the world is a village'.. Thanks to the producers. Great peace.❤❤❤

[@Mcmeider]

Very nice documentation - love it. Thanks NBA!!

[@2011goodnews]

Great documentary, thanks for the great memories and actual pictures oft the courts of Cologne and Leverkusen!👍 I've been living in Cologne for over 25 years now, grew up in Leverkusen and saw so many great games in the 80s and 90s in the "Rundsporthalle", European top teams came with players like Darryl Dawkins, Toni Kukoc, Nikos Galis, Eddie Johnson, Arvydas Sabonic etc.. And then almost all of the greatest german national players mentioned in the close, tough series between Cologne and Leverkusen, the basketball strongholds definitely back then in Germany, what a rivalry, but always fair in the end! Very sad that nowadays there is no more Bundesliga basketball in Cologne or Leverkusen due to the lack of sponsorship on the required scale!🙁

[@erix1971]

Awesome documentary! We want more. Basketball culture is a global culture!

[@Armine771]

Schöne Doku, really well-produced

[@fultonstreetfreestyle]

movies like this insipiries the new generation💯❤️

[@philippskrzeczkowski6940]

Super tolle Doku!

[@ryanbeltran9413]

I know football will always be number one, but I hope basketball can be a really strong number two there like how it is in Spain or Serbia. Considering they developed a HOF and arguably a top 20 all time player already with Dirk, having consistent development can do wonders. Also I feel basketball culture maybe fits there complex to countries like maybe Italy, France, or England? Bundesliga is known and is kind of fast pace so maybe fans can be entertained by the fast lace of basketball. With the recent WC win hope the foundation gets stronger. I think it defintely can be like Spain and have the same development with football. If they can just get another strong prospect like Dirk with guys like Franz this team can dominate Europe for a long time and hopefully Alba Berlin and Bayern in Euroleague can get better and get better support as well.

[@robertotampioc7318]

Nba, fiba and Euroleague should cooperate each other for the better of the sport… basketball can rival football for popularity

[@Rob_Otter]

What a great documentation

[@christopherhussmann8698]

German Loves Basketball!! We are so proud!!

[@vanillacookie8936]

Det the Thread, Legende. Sehr geile Doku. Thumbs Up !

[@LuisFiggeOfficial]

Happy to be in that video! 🙏🏼

[@scheffrocker23]

Wow Top Doku, sehr schön ❤ Det the Thread ❤🏀

[@zikaperic2133]

Great job by NBA

[@KingOubre]

Ich freue mich für Deutschland und hoffe, dass sie gewinnen

[@FireSonata]

My goal is to visit a basketball game in Leverkusen and also Bring Back the Sonics!!!

[@BAYERGIANTSLeverkusenOfficial]

we'd love to have you in our arena. Hope we'll see you soon! ✌

[@hoopsbusiness]

SUCH A COOL SERIES!!

[@prof.dr.dr.philippplugmann7647]

Leverkusen rocks 🏀💯💕

[@Honorarkonsul1081]

Der Vollständigkeit halber sollte man vllt noch erwähnen, dass der glanzvolle Siegeszug des Kölner Basketballs Ende der 80ger Jahre mit dem Verkauf an einen türkischen Gesellschafter und der Umbenennung in Galatasaray Köln etwas unglücklich zu Ende ging. Auf solche Fakten verzichten oberflächliche US Produzenten gerne.

[@FumbleKing-fn5or]

Das wäre natürlich für eine Basketball Overseas Promo Dokumentation, die den Hype nach der WM anschieben und verlängern soll, ein wahrhaft unverzichtbarer Punkt gewesen.

[@Honorarkonsul1081]

@@FumbleKing-fn5or Guter Konter, alle Achtung.

[@cologneconductor8591]

yeah, nike-court! playing there for 20 years now and its exactly like its said in the documentary, best vibe ever! and btw: 10:01 Imagine beeing lucky to be there the day they filmed and than beeing the poor fellow to the left! 🤭

[@RagingJaggi]

sehr geil

[@Atom15]

You should have done it in Bamberg since most of the players on this national team have a background from their youth program if you want to choose one.

[@BAYERGIANTSLeverkusenOfficial]

the documentary was filmed in 2021 before the success of the national team at the european and world cup

[@luwiz4168]

do one on canada and spain next!!

[@schoeferfilm]

You forgot our TEAM from Bamberg 😅 I've been involved in Bamberg basketball for 40 years - a traditional place in german basketball history 💪🏼 from 2005 to 2017 we became 9 times the German Champions 🏆 by the way a great docu you have made 👍🏻 I made some basketball films too 🎥 best greetings from Bamberg

[@MrSheduur]

Leverkusen is still record champ though, and they absolutely deserve to be featured. If Bayer wouldn't have dropped them like a hot potatoe for the fkn football squad, because they wanted to pump more money into that, they would still be a strong Bundesliga team today...

[@stevii.99]

sehr nices video, aber man hätte noch ein paar mehr werbungen schalten können 😢

[@alessandro-v.x]

Very sad that Cologne only play 3rd division and Leverkusen 2nd division these days

[@piepmatzzz]

Leverkusen also plays 3rd division. They just got relegated. But they're also favourites this season to go back up again.

[@kiefertauchmann5060]

Let‘s go for another one🩵🤝

[@user-vr3ru9vd4w]

Korrekte Doku!! ❤ Die Werbung ist allerdings kein Genuss…

[@seteffect_313]

Balling love 🏀❤🏀

[@der7tezwerg921]

''Wenn ich Leverkusen beschreiben muss... (will ja keiner, aber wenns denn unbedingt sein muss, dann ...). Herrjeh, ich schmeiß mich weg. 🤣

[@SuperYankis]

hmmm.... greetings from Lithuania!

[@kosmotube]

Mehr Werbepausen gingen wohl nicht? Schade, macht den schönen Film total kaputt.

[@random_dude6395]

Great Stuff. Future ideas maybe: Spain, Latvia, France, Africa.

[@leroi5342]

Spain is a country Latvia is a country France is a country Africa is a continent There are 54-55 country in the African continent read and save this

[@xyzv8640]

Nice. @NBA, in less than ten minutes 4x2 ads...for the record: I "x'ed" your film after the fourth commercial break (~8:30).

[@oliverstommel3527]

Groß!!!❤

[@tomkmb4120]

Love it! Hope they upload the other episodes of this series too !

[@Jokerface21]

Kiki und Ivan dabei? Alter! Respekt, schön zu sehen :)

[@freeatlast1810]

I'm still watching the documentary. But what is sad, is the "Nike court" with so much history looks like shit. Why has Nike not upgraded this court? It should have propper breakaway hoops and perspex backboards

[@BAYERGIANTSLeverkusenOfficial]

They renovated the court a few days ago

[@freeatlast1810]

@@BAYERGIANTSLeverkusenOfficial arh.thats great to hear ❤️❤️. Would love to take my sons there

[@fdsfklnslnlknlkn8884]

NBA should do one about Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv is way more of a basketball city than some of the cities profiled in this series . Basketball is almost a religion there; Maccabi Tel Aviv are like the European version of the Lakers; and there’s now been a few Israeli NBA players / NCAA stars

[@MirkoDietrich-sj4zi]

TEL AVIV is not Europe sorry

[@fdsfklnslnlknlkn8884]

@@MirkoDietrich-sj4zi They compete in the EuroLeague and have won several EuroLeague championships...

[@andrewchong1857]

Der NikeCourt wurde endlich verewigkt, DANKE

[@ernie2111]

Germany, the true champions of the world!

[@plumeria66]

I’m surprised basketball isn’t the #1 sport in Europe when the average height there is way taller than the average height in America. Especially the Netherlands.

[@robertotampioc7318]

Basketball is no.2 sport in Europe… countries such as Spain, Serbia, Greece, Slovenia, Turkey, Israel, Montenegro, etc… love their basketball same as they do in football….

[@plumeria66]

@@robertotampioc7318 Oh, I didn’t know it is the #2 sport in those countries. I did know from the recent NBA channel video that it is the #1 sport in Serbia.

[@roothik]

​@@robertotampioc7318You forgot Lithuania and Latvia!

[@jpl6037]

@@plumeria66 Yeah but there also is lots of countries where Handball is big (Germany, Spain, France, Denmark, Poland) or Ice Hockey as we call it here. But yeah football is so dominant you probably can't even imagine

[@ouicertes9764]

Football is number 1 mostly, but except in the balkans and baltics (where the populations are the tallest in europe, coincidentally), kids will play a lot of other team sports before basketball. And you will find big talented athletes first in handball, volleyball, natation, rugby, tennis... Spain is a special case, they are always good at sports because their youth programs are top notch. If every sport inclined kid in europe played basketball as a main or secondary sport, you would have much much much more european talent finding its way in the NBA.

[@Haakito11]

Bayer Giants ❤

[@BAYERGIANTSLeverkusenOfficial]

❤

[@The_English_Pels_Fan]

For a moment I thought the Sonics were coming back....🏀🇬🇧

[@sdleersn]

Ok this is the first time i stopped watching a youtube video because of too many interruptions by advertising. 🤦‍♂️ What a world. It’s really getting too much. Ffs

[@AxelOuarty]

vaya nivel

[@J777F]

Xatar aufm NBA channel

[@wundertuete72]

Habt ihr in jeder Stadt noch Storage? Boston, houston etc?

[@user-eh7zn4yv4j]

Number 31 at 16:31 is Austin Reaves older brother

[@leroi5342]

I Love Germany it’s a great and Perfect country to me

[@TheBlitzner]

Geil Deutschland auf dem NBA Channel fühl ich

[@eKh79]

Frank Hudson!

[@maltek4945]

Today Leverkusen and Cologne don‘t play anything close to a significant role in German Basketball.

[@christianbrehm6247]

Toller Werbefilm finde man hätte auf die Basketballgeschichten ruhig verzichten können 😂🤣

[@Zeus030cards]

🔥🤙🔥

[@janoscht.7565]

YES

[@RAZORZNBLADEZ]

THE TRUTH HAS FINALLY BEEN TOLD!KÖLN&LEVERKUSEN WAHREN UND WERDEN IMMER DIE NR.1 SEIN

[@Maik.stelli]

Wie viel Werbung willst du schalten? …. Ja! 😅

[@jpthehistorian]

Watching this after 🇩🇪 won over 🇺🇲

[@jpl6037]

Im just sayin "What's my name? What's my name??" Everybody who played in Grüngürtel knows ;) :D

[@kevins_cardworld]

🎉🎉❤

[@OnyourMakeitOwn]

you know what is funny. Leverkusen and Köln play in second division now. The Basketball Stronghold now is Berlin and München.

[@Feodora1801]

* third

[@TheLightning1978]

Quatsch am Anfang. Haben mit Brandt Hagen 94-97 in A und B Jugend nicht ein Spiel gegeb Leverkusen verloren🤣🚀👏🏻

[@63773unkn0wn88383]

Hier kommt KURT

[@fcb433]

6 Werbeunterbrechungen innerhalb ersten zehn Minuten... Es ist sicherlich eine interessante Doku, aber mit so viel Werbung leider nicht schaubar.

[@musikausdemosten]

Abo holen und alles ohne Werbung gucken. Lohnt sich wenn man oft auf KZbin ist. Dadurch habe ich bestimmt schon 1 Woche im Leben gespart.👍🏻👍🏻

[@kuehlesnordlicht8663]

ad blocker tut es auch@@musikausdemosten

[@user-cp1ro8gj3t]

Nike Court 😂 nur Prolls. SpoHo Court was the real thing

[@TheCliet]

Ich verstehe nicht....ist Köln jetzt eine Basketballstadt??? Ich glaube eher nicht!!!!

[@eKh79]

Köllefornia

[@erindozinushi1997]

Schrempf traah

[@paulibaer_206]

Köln und Leverkusen ernsthaft? Kein einziger deutscher Nationalspieler von der jetzigen Nationalmannschaft kommt aus der Gegend…

[@MrSheduur]

Leverkusen ist noch immer Rekordmeister.

[@BAYERGIANTSLeverkusenOfficial]

Die Doku wurde ende 2021 gedreht. Da war der grandiose Erfolg unserer Natio noch nicht in Sicht. Das Thema der Episoden sind auch gar nicht aktuelle Erfolge, sondern die Sporthistorie und Basketballkultur in den jeweiligen Ländern im Allgemeinen. Der Standort Köln/Leverkusen hat nunmal mit die größte Basketballhistorie in Deutschland. Basketball Hochburgen bis Anfang der 2000er. Schrempf als erster deutscher NBA Spieler (geboren und aufgewachsen in Leverkusen) und dazu auch noch in der NBA Hall of Fame. Gnad und Baeck als wichtige Säulen im Europameister-Team von 1993, die beide noch in Köln und Leverkusen den Basketball prägen. Berlin als Standort mit Charlottenburg/ALBA wäre sicherlich auch sehr attraktiv gewesen. Die Nowitzki Story kennt jedes Kind. Die Entscheidung fiel letztlich zu unseren Gunsten, worüber wir sehr froh sind

[@Fre3cy]

and now Köln and Leverkusen are irrelevant in German basketball

[@WWE2KUNIVERSEELITE]

Americans are not the number 1 basketball fans. That title belongs to europe.

[@DaveDEF82]

Xatar-Mathe: 2023-70 = 1953. Eiskalt den Krieg noch miterlebt. 🤣

[@TheLightning1978]

Köln? In 90er irrelevant im deutschen Basketball

[@N8teyrve]

Maybe don’t refer to Germany as a stronghold?

[@Freigeist2008]

When Pleiss said that, you will never sit long alone in an Kölsche Kneipe/Colonian bar it is because Cologne is the gayest city of Germany. So watch your drinks ;-)

[@duncan.o-vic]

Germans just had to overcomplicate things, could have just called it Cologne, Leverkusen is practically a suburb of Cologne.

[@LWeber-yw6zb]

Not at all. Leverkusen is a completely separate city. It's located in the Rhineland, where a lot of cities are literally next to each other but that does not make Leverkusen a suburb of Cologne. If you say that, everybody would feel insulted

[@duncan.o-vic]

@@LWeber-yw6zb I know that, suburb is a wrong word, but it is a neighbourhood or a part of metropolitan Cologne. Every large city is a sum of smaller ones that merged, and you always have those from newly merged edge-cities being insulted by the truth.

[@MrSheduur]

@@duncan.o-vic No it is not. It is a seperate city that has nothing to do with Cologne.

[@duncan.o-vic]

@@MrSheduur What I said is true. You're insisting on an administrative technicality that is not reflecting practical reality.

[@Matt28284]

Sorry to say, but it’s much more than a technicality. Leverkusen to this day considers itself a different city, feels like a different city. As many ties as there are to Cologne, it’s not the same and certainly more than a suburb. Which suburb has 165k people living in it anyways?

[@zarkoavram9167]

Half their player stolen from Africa

[@Reggy9]

What about the USA then m8! :))) All stolen? Man, you gotta have a sad life!

[@Feodora1801]

for example?

[@sirmzk123]

Irgenwie eine nichts sagende doku mit vielen bildern und scenen ohne zusammenhang.

[@davinnicode]

Habe ich mir auch gedacht. Das ist so austauschbar. Hätte man auch von meiner Kleinstadt machen können.