Gordon Herbert: A Basketball Mastermind on the Verge of Another Triumph
Headline: Gordon Herbert Poised to Celebrate 66th Birthday with Bayern Munich Championship
Subheading: The legendary coach aims to add a Bundesliga Cup title to his glittering resume as his team heads into the tournament as heavy favorites.
Gordon Herbert, the esteemed Canadian coach, will likely spend his 66th birthday where he has spent much of his recent life: on the sidelines of a basketball court. On Sunday, Weißenfels Stadthalle will host the final of the German Bundesliga Cup, and it would be a major upset if Herbert’s FC Bayern Munich were not present.
The defending champions and league leaders enter the Cup weekend as overwhelming favorites, facing a field that is notably weaker than in recent years. Aside from Bayern, the participants include hosts Syntainics MBC (10th in the league), Bamberg Baskets (14th), and Skyliners Frankfurt (16th). Munich will face MBC in the first semi-final on Saturday, followed by a clash between Frankfurt and Bamberg.
Herbert has an excellent chance of claiming his first trophy with Bayern on his birthday. However, the Canadian coach downplays the significance of his special day. "I haven’t celebrated my birthday since I was 47. That’s my biological age," Herbert quipped during the end of a practice session at Bayern’s BMW Park. As his players took shots at the basket, Herbert spoke candidly about his latest title opportunity.
Herbert has already fulfilled the initial objective set by Bayern’s management upon his appointment, though it was merely the most modest one. Bayern aspires to greatness, not only in soccer but also in basketball. This shared ambition aligns Herbert perfectly with the Bavarian club.
The team’s focus is firmly set on the Euroleague. "The goal for this season is to reach the playoffs," club president Herbert Hainer declared before the start of the season regarding Europe’s premier basketball competition. "Not achieving that would be a disappointment."
Some new coaches might have been overwhelmed by such expectations. Not Herbert. The Canadian raised the stakes even higher, expressing his vision of eventually leading Bayern to the Euroleague Final Four. This would be a major achievement against the much wealthier clubs from Spain, Greece, and Turkey.
However, if anyone is capable of pulling off such feats, it is Herbert. His team’s victory at the World Cup in Manila two years ago stands as the greatest upset in German basketball history. Since the summer of 2022, Herbert has become practically untouchable, even though his tenure as the national coach ended without a medal at the Paris Olympics.
Herbert’s time as the national coach, highlighted by bronze at the 2022 EuroBasket on home soil, World Cup gold in 2023, and fourth place at the 2024 Olympics, has elevated him to the top echelon of basketball coaches. The years prior to that were not always easy.
Herbert himself made this public in the summer of 2023. In his book "The Boys Gave Me My Life Back," the former Alba Berlin and Frankfurt coach candidly revealed his years of battling depression, resorting to alcohol to cope, and contemplating suicide. "I was in a phase I never want to experience again," Herbert wrote.
His involvement with the national team rekindled Herbert’s love for basketball. He no longer sees his work as a job but rather as a "passion." If it were just a job, he says, "I would have retired a few years ago."
Fortunately for German basketball, he did not. Now, Bayern aims to reap the benefits of the successful coach’s guidance. So far, Herbert has exceeded expectations. "It has been better than expected in many ways," said Bayern’s Managing Director, Marko Pesic.
Initially, Herbert needed some time to adjust from his role as a six-week national team coach to the day-to-day demands of a club coach, Pesic noted. Herbert acknowledges this as well. "It was difficult to start coaching again right after the Olympics. I felt like I was 85, not 47."
However, he has since found a way to manage the demanding schedule of games and travel. On his birthday, his efforts could culminate in a first title with Bayern. "The celebration would be fitting. We would like to give him that birthday present," said center Johannes Voigtmann.
