What Caused Halftime Altercation Between Dennis Schroder’s Germany & Lithuanian Players at EuroBasket 2025?

EuroBasket, which has long sparked debates in the States over who truly dominates the 2025 European basketball—Nikola Jokic or Luka Doncic—is starting to take shape, as Serbia opens the tournament 3-0 while Slovenia struggles at 0-2. Yet much of the spotlight shifted when Germany became the first team to secure a spot in the Round of 16, following an emphatic 107-88 victory over Lithuania. While the real story should have been the defending world champions scoring 100 or more points for the third consecutive game, a display of sheer dominance, that narrative was quickly overshadowed by an ugly incident that erupted during halftime

During the halftime break, as both teams headed into the tunnel of the Tampere Deck Arena in Finland, a heated verbal altercation erupted between players and staff from both sides. While it’s difficult to discern exactly what was said, the exchange quickly escalated, creating a tense atmosphere. Clips of the incident, now circulating widely on social media, show NBA star and Lithuanian big man Jonas Valančiūnas engaged in a confrontation with several opponents, highlighting just how charged emotions had become during the break.

At the same time, Lithuania’s GM Linas Kleiza was engaged in a conversation with Germany’s Daniel Theis, trying to calm down the veteran forward. Even though not much could have been picked from the viral clip, it seemed like Theis mentioned the word “fan” while speaking to Lithuania’s GM. This indicated that, rather than this being a fight between the players from both teams, this had something to do with the Lithuanian crowd present in the stands.

In fact, that is exactly what caused this massive tension inside the tunnel. According to a few sources, it was allegedly due to unacceptable gestures and sounds made by a few of the Lithuanian supporters toward Germany’s Dennis Schroder, which led teammates like veteran forward Daniel Theis to get really angry and ask those supporters to be removed. Sports are beautiful—let’s keep it that way.

In a recent EuroBasket game between Greece and Italy, the spirit of the game was displayed as Greek fans went out of their way to support Italian player Achille Polonara, who is bravely fighting leukemia. The poster read, “Forza Achille Polonara”. The gesture, amid the intensity of international competition, showed that respect, compassion, and humanity can shine through, proving that basketball is not just about points and stats, but also about community, and what has happened with Dennis Schroder has no place.

Dennis Schroder opens up about the incident that led to the tunnel exchange between German and Lithuanian players

What was supposed to be a moment of celebration for Germany and its players, as they booked their tickets to the Round of 16 after a stellar win, was spoiled by disrespectful and racist actions from a handful of Lithuanian supporters present in the stands. These remarks and gestures were directed toward German players, especially Sacramento Kings and German forward Dennis Schroder, who later after the game, revealed his feelings about the whole incident.

While speaking with MagentaSport, the veteran guard revealed what actually happened that led to the exchange of words between the two sets of players inside the tunnel. “It was awesome. Great atmosphere. The Lithuanians, the fans, they always travel with the team. But unfortunately, at halftime, they made monkey noises,” Schroder said.

“And that’s something I really cannot accept. Racism in this world doesn’t belong here. But nevertheless, it was a good game. I think there were some fans who had to leave the stands due to security concerns. I believe it was also reported.” The world champion stated that what happened to him and several other German players was totally unacceptable.

At the same time, he also raised concerns for a few of the fans who reportedly had to leave the game due to security issues. “That just doesn’t belong in this sport, not in football either. With Vinicius Junior, I’ve seen it happen all the time. But for me, today was the first time experiencing it with the Lithuanians, and it’s sad,” he added.

On top of everything, he was really upset that a few bad actors in the stands ended up making life harder for everyone else. It’s heartbreaking to see players like Dennis Schröder go through this when all they want is to focus on basketball and play for their country. Hopefully, local authorities handle those responsible decisively, sending a strong message that racism has no place—not just in basketball, but anywhere.