Who is Alex Mumbru? Meet former World Cup winner poised to become Germany's men's basketball head coach

Spanish basketball forward-turned-coach Alex Mumbru is reportedly set to succeed Gordon Herbert as Germany's men's national basketball team's head coach. The Spaniard will be tasked with continuing the Germans' ascension following their historic runs at the 2023 FIBA World Cup and the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Marca's Nacho Duque reported Mumbru being chosen as Herbert's replacement on Tuesday. Herbert, who coached Germany since 2021, recently departed the national team to coach Bayern Munich.

Alex Mumbru accumulated numerous accolades during his 21-year playing career (1997-2018) with Joventut, Real Madrid and Bilbao Basket. That includes winning the Spanish League with Real Madrid in 2007.

As a member of the Spanish national team, Mumbru won gold medals at the 2006 FIBA World Cup and 2009 FIBA EuroBasket. He also won a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, amassing five medals in total.

After retiring from playing with Bilbao Basket in 2018, Mumbru transitioned to coaching the team until 2022, exceeding expectations. He parlayed his experience into a three-year coaching deal with Valencia Basket.

However, Mumbru was fired by Valencia in April after the club underperformed. Per Eurohoops.net, he finished his Valencia coaching tenure with a 63-70 record across Liga Endesa, Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, and Copa del Rey contests.

Mumbru takes over a German squad filled with high-level talent, most notably stars Dennis Schroder and Franz Wagner. Germany, led by Herbert, won the bronze medal at the 2022 FIBA EuroBasket. It followed that up by capturing its first gold medal at the 2023 FIBA World Cup.

Most recently, the world champions secured a fourth-place finish at the 2024 Paris Olympics, marking Germany's top finish through seven Olympic appearances. Thus, Mumbru will likely face high expectations right out of the gate.

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When will Alex Mumbru take over for Germany?

According to Nacho Duque, Alex Mumbru is expected to sign a multi-year contract with Germany and be introduced as coach over the next few days.

However, he won't make his coaching debut with Germany until Nov. 22 when the Germans take on Sweden at the 2025 FIBA EuroBasket Qualifiers. So far, they have defeated Montenegro and fallen to Bulgaria in the competition.

Given the timing of the match, Mumbru will begin his coaching tenure without Germany's top NBA players.

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