East Germany men's national basketball team

East Germany
FIBA ranking	Defunct
Joined FIBA	1952
FIBA zone	FIBA Europe
National federation	Deutscher Basketball Verband der DDR
Olympic Games
Appearances	None
FIBA World Cup
Appearances	None
EuroBasket
Appearances	5
Medals	None
Home	Away
First international
	East Germany 37–87 Soviet Union ; (Istanbul, Turkey; 22 May 1959)
Biggest win
	East Germany 87–42 Sweden ; (Halle, East Germany; 5 May 1967)
Biggest defeat
	East Germany 37–87 Soviet Union ; (Istanbul, Turkey; 22 May 1959)

The East Germany men's national basketball team was recognised by FIBA as the German Democratic Republic basketball team from 1952 to 1990.

East Germany's biggest success during international events came at the EuroBasket 1963 in Wrocław. It was where they earned their highest ranked finish of sixth place.

History

After the Second World War, two German national basketball teams were in existence. The East Germany national team joined FIBA as members in 1952. They wouldn't enter their first international tournament until the EuroBasket 1959, where they finished 14th.^[1]

At the EuroBasket 1961 in Belgrade, East Germany finished 12th out of the 19 teams, four spots ahead of West Germany.^[2] Overall, the national basketball team of East Germany had its biggest success at the EuroBasket 1963 in Wrocław. After four victories and three losses in the preliminary round, East Germany went as the third seed (behind the tournament winner Soviet Union and silver medalist Poland) in Group B. Since only the first two places advanced to the semi-finals, East Germany played against Belgium and Bulgaria in the classification round. After beating Belgium 81–35, East Germany lost to Bulgaria 62–77. According to many experts, East Germany was one of the biggest surprises of the tournament.^[3]

At the EuroBasket 1965 in Moscow/Tbilisi, the East German team could not repeat its impressive performance two years earlier. However, it outperformed its West German competitors by four spots and finished 10th out of the 16 teams. East Germany competed in its last EuroBasket in 1967, hosted in Helsinki/Tampere. They eventually finished out the event in 14th place.^[4]

After failing at EuroBasket a year prior, East Germany entered qualification for the 1968 Summer Olympics. It was then they defeated West Germany for the second time, though they missed out on qualifying. Despite the lack of popularity of basketball in East Germany, it took the West German national team until 1973 to earn its first victory over the East Germans, who displayed disciplined playing styles.^[5] However, even after East Germany exhibited some solid performances at European basketball competitions, the national team never qualified for the World Cup or Summer Olympics.

Its demise

In 1969, the Socialist Unity Party of Germany decided to shift its focus towards sports that were most likely to win medals, and earn points at international competitions. Since basketball is a team sport, where in contrast to individual sports, the whole team can only win a single Olympic medal; it lost considerable government support. Eventually, the SED and Stasi leader Erich Mielke banned East German basketball players from traveling to non-socialist countries, and immensely limited the sponsorship and promotion of talents. This ultimately led to the end of East Germany's international basketball existence, which ceded completely after 1973,^[6] although the federation would continue to be recognised by FIBA as a full member, until reunification in 1990.

Competitive record

EuroBasket

EuroBasket					Qualification
Year	Position	Pld	W	L	Pld	W	L
1953	Did not enter
1955
1957
1959	14th	6	1	5
1961	12th	8	2	6
1963	6th	9	5	4	Directly qualified
1965	10th	9	3	6	Directly qualified
1967	14th	9	2	7	3	3	0
1969	Did not enter				Did not enter
1971	Did not enter				Did not enter
1973	Did not qualify				9	5	4
1975	Did not enter				Did not enter
1977
1979
1981
1983
1985
1987
1989
Total	5/19	41	13	28	12	8	4