The first scene of The Wagner Brothers documentary sees Moe Wagner stressing out.
He is a free agent and his place with the Orlando Magic is not certain even after a solid season in 2023. Wagner was nearly out of the league before he got a contract with the Magic. But he is dealing with something of an identity crisis in addition to a contract negotiation.
He knows the kind of player he can be and what he was that season. But he does not want to be known only as his brother's caretaker. And he has the feeling that is how his team values him.
The first offer his agent presented to him did not seem to meet all that he wanted. He complained openly he just wanted to feel appreciated.
Of course, sitting near him that summer day in Los Angeles was his brother and teammate, Franz. Franz, always more quiet and reserved, agreed with his brother that the team he also played for needed to appreciate him more and understand his value to the team.
Things turned out OK in the end. Moe signed a two-year, $16 million deal. He was happy with the outcome and he and his brother prepared for the FIBA World Cup. (Spoiler alert: he went through the whole thing again when the Magic declined a team option and then re-signed him to a two-year, $22 million deal last summer).
The clip was one of the many that made the rounds when the documentary was released in early December. It helped it was one of the few clips that was almost fully in English. But it did something interesting and unique, it peeled the curtain back on this unique story and these two brothers making their way through the NBA together.
That was a lot of the point of doing this documentary it was about giving the fans back in Germany a glimpse at life in the NBA with two of its favorite sons.
I spoke to Franz Wagner in the locker room shortly after it was released to ask him what the early response was to the documentary—both Franz and Moe had a big say in what went into the documentary, and they did not hold back in this revealing look into their lives. The reaction was good, but any hopes of seeing it released in English missed the point.
This is a story the Wagner brothers wanted to tell to inspire and inform young basketball players in Germany. Their whole story is an example of what is possible in German basketball. They are carving a path they hope future generations will walk.
That is seen in how the episodes are structured—following a timeline and flashback style that was similar to The Last Dance. It was a big emphasis in the episode that centered on the FIBA World Cup and what that meant to them.
This is a road they hope others will follow, even if they cannot follow it with their brother.
You can chart that path through the 2023-24 season.
Episode 1 speaks about the offseason and their upbringing to get onto the NBA stage. Episode 2 follows them through Germany's breakthrough FIBA World Cup title. Episode 3 speaks about life in the NBA and the isolation and cultural challenges of being in the U.S. And Episode 4 is about being in the playoffs and climbing to the mountaintop.
The documentary, even with the Wagners having their input, holds no punches. It catches Moe comforting Franz after Game 7 in Cleveland. Franz, as he did in the immediate aftermath of the game, speaks frankly about his disappointment.
It follows them into the offseason when Moe was told the Magic might decline his team option to give him a bigger contract and the uncertainty that flooded him again—an uncertainty that only feels greater knowing he has a team option for next year while recovering from a torn ACL. And to Franz signing a max contract and reaching that status of play.
The documentary clings to the unique circumstances the entire Wagner family finds themselves in. It is rare not only for brothers to make the league but to be on the same team and living together. That they are so close—Franz at the end estimates they spent maybe four total days apart throughout the entire year—only adds to it.
Franz and Moe's mother, Beate, actually has a book already out on raising two NBA sons.
This documentary lets you get to know the brothers themselves. You see how they interact. And it is truly a big brother/little brother vibe. But you can see how determined and focused they are.
What they have accomplished already and the work they still have to do is not lost on them. Both Wagners see the path they are carving for the next generation. That is what is in mind throughout the documentary and the series. They want to take people through every step of the journey throughout the 2023-24 season and their careers.
If you are looking for some grand statement or some social commentary like you would from a 30 for 30, this is not that documentary. Obviously with still so much of their careers ahead of them, this is not lionizing either player as the greatest thing either. There is still a lot of the story to be written.
What this documentary does is peel back the curtain. It explores this unique situation and relationship and gives the audience a glimpse of what NBA life is like—the glamorous and the at times lonely.
That is what they wanted from this project. They wanted to show their home what the NBA life is like warts and all through the prism of their experience.
This is not a basketball story per se, there are no behind-the-scenes breakdowns of game tape or caught-on-mic conversations in-game. It is not about who they are as basketball players, that is likely well-established before you get to the documentary.
This is a life story. How family, perseverance and trust creates a dream. And showing the road for the next generation to take the baton and walk it. And for Magic fans it is a story worth going through (even with imperfect browser translations to English). It gives you an appreciation for who the players are as people as much as you do for their work on the court.
Obviously, this is just one year in their lives. A very good one at that personally and professionally despite the tough loss in the playoffs and the loss in the Olympics. It does leave you ready to see where they go next.
It leaves you ready to keep walking the path with them.
The Wagner Brothers is available in German on ZDF. You can get English subtitles using your browser's translate function and by turning on the captions (the translation is likely not perfect, but you will get the basics of what they say).