After leading Germany to its first-ever FIBA Basketball World Cup, Dennis Schroder was crowned as the best of the best in the FIBA Basketball World Cup — winning the Most Valuable Player of the tournament.
Schroder, a 6-foot-1 guard who was recently signed by Toronto, averaged 17.9 points, 6.1 assists, and 1.2 steals in the tournament.
In the final, the 29-year-old two-way guard put up 28 points, two rebounds, two assists, and a steal, leading Germany to an 83-77 victory.
This was a redemption for Germany as its first-ever MVP in the tournament Dirk Nowitzki (2003) was not able to lead their country to the championship.
It was the last time the MVP did not come from the winning team.
“Dirk was before. Dennis is now,” said Germany head coach Gordie Herbert.
Joining Schroder in the All-Star Five are Bogdan Bogdanovic of Serbia, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Canada, Anthony Edwards of USA, and Luka Doncic of Slovenia.
Bogdanovic averaged 19.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 2.1 steals per game including picking up 17 points and 5 assists in the Final.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished the tournament with 24.5 points, 6.4 rebounds, 6.4 assists, and 1.6 steals per game in helping Canada finish third for their first medal in history.
Edwards collected 18.9 points and 4.6 rebounds per game in helping USA reach the Semi-Finals. He showed his star status by scoring 35 points against Lithuania.
Doncic was outstanding all tournament joining the exclusive 200-point club as he averaged 27.0 points to go along with 7.1 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game.
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The All-Second Team honors went to Arturs Zagars of Latvia, Simone Fontecchio of Italy, Jonas Valanciunas of Lithuania, Nikola Milutinov of Serbia and Franz Wagner of Germany.
The Best Defensive Player is Dillon Brooks, who was more than glad to accept any defensive responsibilities for Bronze medalists Canada.
His physical one-on-one defense against the likes of Luka Doncic and Evan Fournier played a huge role in important victories for The Land of Maple Leaf. Moreover, he was an integral part of one of the best defensive units in the World Cup.
The Best Coach honors went to Latvia head coach Luca Banchi.
Not only is he the author of Latvia’s run for the 5th place in their first-ever World Cup, but he’s also led the team to a fantastic 21-3 record ever since he took over before the World Cup Pre-Qualifiers.
Meanwhile, Australia’s Josh Giddey was the first-ever Rising Star awardee.
Throughout the competition, Giddey averaged 19.4 points, 6.0 assists, and 5.0 rebounds per game for the Boomers.
In the history of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, there have only been six players – Drazen Petrovic, Wilfredo Ruiz, Kevin Durant, Yao Ming, John Lucas, and Leo Rautins – to average more points than Josh Giddey before turning 22 years old.
