Alan Ibrahimagic, assistant coach of the German basketball national team, unexpectedly took over as head coach at the European Championship when Alex Mumbru fell ill, leading the team to the title. After the triumph, he stepped back into the background. The 47-year-old describes the events as a 'crazy story'.
Alan Ibrahimagic recently sat quietly on the bench again as assistant coach of the German basketball national team behind head coach Alex Mumbru. Three months earlier, during the World Cup qualification in Ulm against Israel, he had been in the spotlight. At the end of August 2024, Mumbru fell ill with pancreatitis just before the EM in Finland and Latvia and had to go to the hospital. Ibrahimagic, an Australian-Bosnian coach who has worked in the youth sector of the German Basketball Federation for years, stepped in as an unknown assistant.
He had recently celebrated successes with youth teams: 2024 EM title with the U18, 2025 silver with the U19 at the World Championship, losing to the USA in the final. At the men's EM, the team around captain Dennis Schröder and Franz Wagner dominated the preliminary round in Tampere with five wins. 'This team has been together for so long and knows how to handle every situation better than we coaches,' Ibrahimagic said.
In Riga, Mumbru returned for the round of 16 against Portugal, but the coaches alternated, until Mumbru handed the head coach role back to Ibrahimagic at halftime. He explained in a press conference that he did not feel ready for 40 minutes on the sideline. Ibrahimagic led the team into the quarterfinals and to the EM title thanks to a strong final quarter. Schröder praised: 'Alan took over the job in no easy situation. What he did on the sideline, taking the right timeouts, making the right substitutions, that was incredible.' Mumbru handled the training but stayed in the background.
Ibrahimagic calls the EM a 'crazy story'. 'If I think about it, it was madness. I think it was better for me that it happened so spontaneously,' he said in an interview with the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland. He plans to continue as assistant coach, despite ambitions for a head position. In World Cup qualification, Germany won against Israel and Cyprus. David Krämer from Real Madrid said: 'Alex and Alan do a perfect job. They are very good coaches.' Ibrahimagic's loyalty is highly valued.
