It’s the Wagner brothers’ turn for a homecoming, courtesy of NBA schedule makers, while the Memphis Grizzlies will take a brief break from tradition to participate.
The league announced that the Orlando Magic will play the Grizzlies in two games overseas next season, including one in Berlin, where brothers Franz and Moritz Wagner grew up and played professionally before coming to America. Additionally, Magic forward Tristan da Silva is from Munich, and Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo previously coached Telekom Baskets Bonn in Germany.
Europe, get ready! ✈️🌍
The NBA will host SIX regular-season games in Europe over the next three years, with games to come in Berlin and London (2026), Manchester and Paris (2027) and Berlin and Paris (2028).
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— NBA (@NBA) July 30, 2025
The two teams will play at Berlin’s Under Arena on Jan. 15 and then at London’s famous O2 Arena on Jan. 18, which means the Grizzlies won’t be able to host a game on Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 19 for just the third time since the team moved to Memphis in 2001.
King was assassinated in Memphis in 1968, and each year the Grizzlies host an annual celebration in the civil rights icon’s honor, which usually includes a basketball game. The Grizzlies didn’t play on MLK Day last in 2017, but their news release Wednesday made clear they intend to host a game on the holiday in 2027.
“We appreciate the opportunity to represent the NBA and to represent the city of Memphis and state of Tennessee on an international stage in Berlin and London,” Grizzlies president Jason Wexler said in the release. “In order to undertake this rare opportunity to bring Memphis to an international audience, it will require the team to be away from home for MLK Day. However, we remain committed to supporting the Memphis community over the MLK Day holiday while the team is traveling, and we look forward to the Grizzlies once again anchoring the NBA’s MLK Day schedule in 2027.”
The NBA also said it would hold regular-season games in Manchester, England and Paris in 2027, and in Berlin and Paris in 2028. While the dates and teams for those future trips were not yet announced, last year the San Antonio Spurs and French sensation Victor Wembanyama played the Indiana Pacers twice in Paris, where Wemby is from, and it was a huge hit.
This will be the first NBA regular-season game in Germany and the 10th in London.
Franz Wagner competed at every level for Alba Berlin, a Euroleague club, including the pro team, up until he left for the University of Michigan in 2019 for two seasons. Mo’s career followed a similar path, and both also star for the German national team.
“To have the Orlando Magic and the NBA play a regular-season game in our hometown of Berlin means everything to us,” the Wagner brothers said in a joint statement included in the NBA release. “Growing up here, we dreamed of moments like this. It’s a huge honor to represent Berlin and Germany and show how much the city and country love basketball. We hope we can inspire kids the way we were inspired watching games from afar.”
One spicy tidbit — earlier this summer, the Grizzlies traded Desmond Bane to the Magic. As Memphis is in the West and the Magic are in the East, they only play twice. So there will be no Bane homecoming in Memphis this season.
The NBA’s overseas schedule also represents commissioner Adam Silver’s desire to start a European league with teams potentially in all four of the markets with games in the next few years, and continue to strengthen ties with Middle Eastern money interests — some of whom own other sports teams in Europe.
Manchester City’s multibillion-dollar soccer franchise is owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, through the Abu Dhabi United Group out of the United Arab Emirates. The chairman of Manchester City is another Emirate, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, whose brother, Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, runs the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism.
The Al Mubarak family has expressed interest in NBA ownership, though sovereign wealth funds currently cannot own more than 20 percent of any NBA franchise. Allowing the Man City group to serve as de facto hosts for a game next season is a step toward Silver’s goals.
(Photo: Chris Schwegler / NBAE via Getty Images)