National basketball coach Alex Mumbru has had a tough few weeks. He became seriously ill during the European Championships. His team celebrated the title, he went to the hospital. Now Mumbru has recovered and is speaking about the difficult time for the first time.
Alex Mumbru looked relaxed. After tumultuous months, the national basketball coach is enjoying time with his family in his native Spain. After a month in hospital following her European Championship success of winning a gold medal, Mumbru was ready for a new assignment again.
He left the hospital in mid-October. He has since recovered from the effects of severe pancreatitis which forced him to be hospitalized shortly before the start of the European Championships in Tampere, Finland, and also forced him to sit in the second row at the finals in Riga.
“I’m fine,” Mumbruu said. “I lost 20 kilograms and gained another five kilograms. I still have to recover a little, but everything is fine again.”
Looking forward to the qualifying matches
It would be fine if the Spaniard temporarily ended his family time in his home country for the weekend and started his trip to Germany. On Sunday he watched the top Bundesliga match between Ulm and Bayern Munich. This Monday begins preparations for two World Cup qualifying matches against Israel in Neu-Ulm on Friday and in Cyprus next Monday.
“I’m really looking forward to these two games and being back in the hall with friends,” said Mumbru. He has used the last few weeks to meticulously prepare for the first qualifying window for the 2027 World Cup in Qatar. “I watch a lot of games on my laptop and talk to a lot of players on the phone,” reports the 46-year-old. He had started preparing at the hospital – but not immediately.
Because after the European Cup, his condition is questionable. After missing the entire heats in Tampere, Finland, Mumbru returned to the dugout for the finals in Riga.
However, he left his assistant Alan Ibrahimagic to coach during the quarter-final matches onwards as he himself was too weak. But even a role at the second level demands everything from the former professional. Exhausted, he went to hospital the day after the final win against Türkiye in Spain.
“It was a difficult time,” Mumbru admits. “I often had injuries as a player, but never had one so serious,” the national coach told Spanish newspaper “Marca” about the pain during his time in Finland.
In the knockout phase in Riga you could see how much he was suffering and how bad his health was. But Mumbru really wanted to be there. “That was my team, that was my basketball we were playing. I couldn’t leave.”
Proud to be there
Looking back, the Spaniard says his perseverance makes him proud. The way teams and associations stick to him is also special. Most memorable was the press conference before the quarter-final against Slovenia, where the entire team gathered behind the national coach to document their bond with Mumbru. “We want to show that we can do it together,” said the Spaniard.
He never thought about leaving the team during the tournament. “I never give up,” said Mumbru with a firm voice and great determination.
With a strong will, he now wants to take Germany to the World Cup in Qatar. Only a few of the European champions will feature against Israel and Cyprus. As usual in the national team window, NBA stars are not available. The coming days will show who the Euroleague pros will ultimately play.
But it only played a small role for Mumbru. He is happy to be on the sidelines again. “He had a bad summer because he was hospitalized for a long time. But he is fit and ready to face it,” association president Ingo Weiss aptly concluded.
jb/dpa
