Sacramento Kings point guard Dennis Schröder is the star of Germany’s national basketball team, which failed to medal in Paris despite being one of the favorites heading into the 2024 Olympic games.

Germany was shocked by France, which lost to Team USA in the Gold medal game, but not before Schröder, who was named to “FIBA’s official All-Star 5,″ revealed the hardships he faced being raised in Europe while Black.

“Growing up in Germany was tough, man,” Schröder told Marc Spears of AndScape.com in August 2024. “It’s wrong, but I just went with it. ‘Why is your skin Black? Why are you dirty?’”

One year later, the veteran point guard is fending off a new racist attack.

Schröder was targeted with “monkey noises” from fans on Saturday during halftime of a FIBA EuroBasket game in Tampere, Finland, between Germany and Lithuania.

Schröder, whose father is German and mother hails from Gambia — a small West African country, bounded by Senegal — strongly condemned the racism.

“Making monkey noises, that’s something I don’t respect,” Schröder, who heard the racist taunts as he walked toward the locker room, told reporters in German, per ESPN. “No matter what status, insults, that’s all fine. But racism simply doesn’t belong in this sport. That’s something that’s not OK.”

Schröder later wrote on social media that he wished the people who made the noises “had the guts to do that outside the arena.”

FIBA, the sport’s international governing body, released a statement “unequivocally condemn[ing] hate speech, discriminatory conduct, and racist language.”

Security and FIBA officials removed at least two individuals from the arena, and one fan was subsequently banned from attending the remainder of the tournament. Local law enforcement also received footage for further investigation.

Schröder was named the FIBA World Cup MVP in 2023. He has played for 11 NBA teams, including the Brooklyn Nets in 2024.

Todderick Hunt covers Sports and Culture and Recruiting. Have a story idea or a tip? He can be reached atthunt@njadvancemedia.com.

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