Dennis Schröder

Dennis Schröder (German pronunciation: [ˈʃʀøːdɐ]; born September 15, 1993) is a German professional basketball player for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Standing at 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m), he plays at the point guard position. Schröder formerly played for SG Braunschweig and Phantoms Braunschweig. He is widely regarded as one of the best talents in German basketball and has drawn many comparisons to fellow NBA point guard Rajon Rondo.

Phantoms Braunschweig (2010–2013)

Schröder started playing professional basketball in 2010 for SG Braunschweig, farm team of Phantoms Braunschweig. In his first season with SUM Baskets Braunschweig, he averaged 7.8 points, 2.1 assists and 1.6 rebounds per game in a 2nd-tier German League. In the 2011–12 season he made a breakthrough, averaging 17.8 points and 6.7 assists over 23 regular season games. His team went in the playoffs where he averaged 18.8 points and 5.1 assists over 4 games. In the same season, he also played 30 games for Phantoms Braunschweig of the German League, averaging 2.3 points, 0.7 assists and 0.8 rebounds in about 8 minutes per game.

In the 2012–13 season he played 32 games for Phantoms Braunschweig, averaging 12 points, 3.2 assists and 2.5 rebounds in 25 minutes per game. For the season, he was named the League's Most Improved Player as well as Best Young German Player.

In 2013, Schröder was announced to play at the 2013 Nike Hoop Summit for the World Select Team. Before officially playing at the Nike Hoop Summit, Schröder decided to declare for the 2013 NBA draft. On April 20, 2013, Schröder led his team to a 112-98 win. He finished with 18 points, 6 assists and 2 rebounds in 29 minutes.

Atlanta Hawks (2013–present)

On June 27, 2013, Schröder was selected with the 17th overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft by the Atlanta Hawks. On July 11, 2013, he signed with the Hawks and joined them for the 2013 NBA Summer League. On December 4, 2013, he was assigned to the Bakersfield Jam of the NBA D-League. On December 16, 2013, he was recalled by the Hawks.

In July 2014, Schröder re-joined the Hawks for the 2014 NBA Summer League. On October 30, 2014, the Hawks exercised their third-year team option on Schröder's rookie scale contract, extending the contract through the 2015–16 season. On December 22, 2014, he scored a then career-high 22 points in a 105–102 win over the Dallas Mavericks.

Participating in the 2015 Rising Stars Challenge on February 13, Schröder recorded 13 points, 9 assists and 3 steals as Team World defeated Team USA, 121–112. His performance was lauded by ESPN analysts, who drew comparisons to "a young Tony Parker" and called Schröder a "magician out there". On March 15, 2015, he scored a career-high 24 points and tied his career high of 10 assists as he started in place of Jeff Teague and helped the Hawks defeat the Los Angeles Lakers, 91–86.

On May 2, 2016, Schröder scored a playoff career-high 27 points in a Game 1 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers during the 2016 conference semi-finals.

On October 26, 2016, Schröder signed a four-year, $70 million contract extension with the Hawks. On November 8, 2016, he scored a then career-high 28 points in a 110–106 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. On November 30, 2016, he scored 14 of his career-high 31 points in the fourth quarter of the Hawks' 109–107 loss to the Phoenix Suns. He surpassed his career-high mark again on December 9, 2016, scoring 33 points in a 114–110 win over the Milwaukee Bucks. On April 26, 2017, he led the Hawks with 29 points, making a career high-tying five 3s, and 11 assists in a 103–99 loss to the Washington Wizards in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series; the loss saw the Hawks go down 3–2 in the series.

Schröder with Germany in 2014

Schröder has been a member of the German national under-18 and German national under-20 teams. He played in the 2012 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship and helped the German team to fifth place, averaging 6.1 points, 2 assists and 1.8 rebounds in 14.6 minutes on the court. On 27 July 2014, he made his debut for the senior Germany national basketball team in a game against Finland.

Schröder played at EuroBasket 2015, in the group stage that was hosted in Berlin. Germany did not qualify for the knock-out stage and finished on the 18th place in the final rankings.

Statistics

Tournaments with  Germany
Year	Pos.	PPG	RPG	APG
EuroBasket
2015	18	15.3	1.8	5.3
Source: FIBA

NBA

Regular season

Playoffs

Schröder is the son of a German father and a Gambian mother. He stated that he started focusing on his basketball career after his father died in 2009. He and his brother were both heavily involved with skateboarding until Dennis found basketball at age 11. His agent is former German basketball national player Ademola Okulaja. Schröder is Muslim.