Veteran NBA guard Dennis Schroder says that he was subjected to an incident of racial abuse during Saturday’s game at EuroBasket.
The new Sacramento Kings guard Schroder was representing his native Germany on Saturday during a group stage game against Lithuania in Tampere, Finland. Germany won easily by a final score of 107-88 and became the first team at this year’s EuroBasket to punch their ticket to the Round of 16.
After the game, Schroder revealed to reporters that he was the victim of a racial incident during halftime of the contest. Schroder said that a couple of fans made “monkey noises” at him as he was walking to the locker room.
“Making monkey noises, that’s something I don’t respect,” Schroder said 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.”
ESPN reports that two people were identified as the alleged perpetrators of the abuse and were subsequently ejected from the stadium. Additionally, FIBA officials reportedly banned one of the fans from attending the remainder of the EuroBasket tournament this year after that fan was identified by CCTV footage.
FIBA also said in a statement that they have sent the relevant footage and information to local law enforcement authorities, who are now investigating the matter.
Schroder, 31, scored a game-high 26 points for Germany on Saturday against Lithuania, also putting up three rebounds and six assists as his team improved to a perfect 3-0 in group stage play. The former first-round pick Schroder is known for his outspoken personality too and made headlines earlier this year by comparing the NBA trade deadline to slavery.
