Very few players in basketball have been as impactful for their country as Dennis Schroder has been for Germany, guiding the national team to unprecedented success in recent years. But is international glory alone enough to warrant consideration for the Hall of Fame? That\u2019s been the debate lately.<\/p>\n
Last week, Schroder led Germany to its first EuroBasket title since 1993, also winning the tournament MVP award in the process. This achievement was preceded by a fourth-place finish at the 2024 Olympics (Germany\u2019s best-ever result) and a FIBA World Cup win in 2023, where Schroder was also the MVP.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the Sacramento Kings<\/a> guard\u2019s NBA career has been quite uneventful, and he\u2019s largely been a journeyman. Averaging just 13.9 points per game since making his debut in 2013, Schroder hasn\u2019t even made it to the All-Star. Richard Jefferson<\/a>, however, doesn\u2019t think the Basketball Hall of Fame should solely depend on achievements in the NBA.<\/p>\n On the Road Trippin\u2019 podcast, Jefferson noted that Schroder<\/a>\u2018s resume is more than good enough for basketball immortality.<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s be clear. It is the Basketball Hall of Fame, not the NBA Hall of Fame. It is your basketball career. While his NBA career is one, there are guys that have made it in the Hall of Fame purely based off their international play only. There are international guys that have made it into the NBA. There are NBA players with combined international play have put them into the Hall of Fame,\u201d stated<\/a> the 2016 NBA Champ.<\/p>\n Jefferson wasn\u2019t done. He argued that it was very \u201cAmerican\u201d to discount international achievements, but these things absolutely matter. \u201cIf you go international and you\u2019ve won EuroLeague and you\u2019ve won a world championship. Winning a world championship in all of the countries and then going and winning the EuroLeague, those are huge things. We don\u2019t look at it from our perspective. That\u2019s an American thing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut outside of America, where there\u2019s more people that play basketball in the world than play in this country, those two things are gigantic,\u201d the ex-Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a> man added.<\/p>\n The pool of worldwide talent is deeper than it has ever been. And if you look at today\u2019s NBA landscape, many of the best players are non-American, a point Jefferson emphasizes.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to start giving credit to what these leagues are. He\u2019s going against Jokic-es and Giannis-es. The best players in the world are playing over there. Let\u2019s be honest. The best players in the world are playing for their countries in the EuroLeague. The best players in the world are not always here in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n Jefferson is not the only one who thinks Schroder is a lock. Dennis\u2019s ex-teammate, newly inducted Hall of Famer Dwight Howard,<\/a> took to X shortly after Germany\u2019s win to hype up the 32-year-old. \u201cDennis Schroder making a case for the Hall of Fame,\u201d wrote Superman.<\/p>\n Dennis Schroeder making a case for the Hall of Fame <\/p>\n