Bayern is 2025 German champion

The crowd was once again treated to a memorable thriller that, with its drama, easily bordered on bodily harm — for the Bayern basketball players, it was ultimately pure liberation after the longest season in Europe, after 83 games and BBL playoffs without their top scorer Carsen Edwards, without national player Oscar da Silva, and also without veteran Elias Harris, all sidelined by injuries. The Munich team are German champions once again: after the 81:77 (48:41) win over a strong Ulm side in front of 11,500 fans, emotions erupted from the exhausted championship bodies as explosively as the beer flowed from the Paulaner glasses moments later.

Foto-Credit: easycreditbbl/Ulf Duda

Match-winner Voigtmann, MVP Napier

For the 27th time in 27 games, the SAP Garden was sold out — and it witnessed its first title celebration. And these Bayern players sure know how to celebrate: After the jubilant ceremony, including the MVP award for Shabazz Napier — that ice-cold guy from Massachusetts — after the euphoric crowd surf and lakes of beer in the locker room, after heartfelt words of respect for a strong opponent who had led the series 2:1 at one point, featuring the second MVP candidate Karim Jallow (the only sad Münchner on the night) — after all that, the Bayern champions celebrated their seventh championship (following titles in 1954, 1955, 2014, 2018, 2019, and 2024) at “Kyah” with hip-hop and flat rates for everything that fits into a glass. At some point, the sun was up — and the party was far from over.

In the fifth playoff final of the easyCredit BBL, Bayern once again took their fans on a journey through their long season. A 40-minute homage to many intoxicating nights, to rollercoaster basketball, and to a remarkable talent for creating the wildest climaxes this game has to offer. For the nerds up front: the top scorer was Devin Booker (19), but the match-winner was Jo Voigtmann — with a block on Santos at 68-all (35th minute) and two soaring three-pointers in the final minutes. But let’s start at the beginning.

Boxscore Game 5

From 47:30 to 48:41

After playing the party crashers with a cool 67:53 win in Ulm’s pressure cooker on Tuesday, Bayern started strong again with an early 7:2 lead. But Ulm also scored reliably, especially with strong drives to the basket. With Napier, who took over with irresistible confidence, FCBB regained rhythm and breathing room: 23:18 (8th minute), then 28:21 after the first quarter.

Voigtmann’s tough three-pointer and his steal leading to an Obst score, followed by Giffey’s authoritative dunk, stretched the lead to 37:23 (15th minute). Bayern’s defense made Ulm’s three-point shooting difficult — they had zero makes. The energy and focus continued: Lucic drew a foul to make it 43:27 (17th minute).

But a first half that had gone extremely well — with a lead as large as 17 points (47:30) — was undermined in just two minutes by unnecessary overconfidence: a 1:11 run against them heading into the buzzer, facing a now smaller Ulm lineup.

A 40-minute homage to a wild season

So it turned into a nail-biter after all — and Bayern had only themselves to blame. Ulm closed the gap via transition play to 49:53 (25th minute). Even a 59:50 lead (26th) brought no real security, as the visitors fought tooth and nail for the comeback. Five turnovers in that quarter made things even harder — Bayern’s lead shrank to just 65:61. Nerves were setting in, and suddenly the Munich team resorted only to long-range shots. Without success. Six minutes before the end, the lead was gone — 65:68.

Then: 73:72, 73:74 — the tension was overwhelming. And then Voigtmann hit twice from downtown, six points for a 79:75 lead — the temporary peak of ecstasy (with 1:14 left). But of course, more drama was in store: 79:77, Ulm had the ball, 34 seconds to go — missed three-pointer, Hollatz grabbed the rebound; two free throws for Napier — he made just one, naturally — but Booker got the rebound! Lucic stepped to the line and made it 81:77 (0:15 left) — yes, that was it, finally! Ulm’s final desperate shots missed. State of emergency.

Quotes:

Gordon Herbert, Headcoach FC Bayern Basketball: “Congratulations to Ulm, they had an exceptional year. It was tough to play against them with their defensive intensity. We played outstanding basketball in the first 15 or 16 minutes today. Then we got careless and Ulm gained the momentum with fastbreak points. You have to give them credit for that - they never gave up fighting. In the end, we had guys on court who were on their last legs: Napier, Weiler-Babb... but then Johannes Voigtmann had this monster block and hit two really big shots. Now that Marko Pesic is leaving, this title goes to him. It was great to work with him. He never lets you be satisfied, he always wants more. That made me a better coach. He was great to work with. He never lets you be satisfied, he always wants more. That made me a better coach. I'm glad we won this for Marko. He has worked so hard for many years to get this club to where it is, one of the best organizations in Europe. I don't think he's going far, but still... I'm very proud of the players. For me and the international players, it was the 365th day in a row at work. 365 days. Last year I started with the national team on June 27. It's nice that the year ended like this. (...) Of course there was pressure. Bayern is all about titles. That can be exhausting. We talked before game four about getting the passion back: Don't think about the title, let's just enjoy what we're doing. (...) I think we've won a lot of games like that in the end, especially in the Euroleague. We had momentum for 15 minutes, then Ulm had the momentum for five minutes and then it went back and forth. (...) We didn't know if Devin could even play game four, he's actually injured. If he couldn't, we brought on Jo. He hit those two important threes. I'm just glad he just took them and didn't start dribbling. (...) We had 19 wins and 13 defeats in the EuroLeague, nobody expected that. And then we slipped from fifth to ninth place. That was tough, I didn't think we deserved it. That was disappointing. The cup was also disappointing. But I was very happy with the way we played in the EuroLeague. In the BBL, we sometimes played according to the motto ‘A good horse only jumps as high as it has to’, right up to the finals. (...) Shabazz was always an important player and he accepted coming off the bench here all year. He's done an outstanding job. He's an outstanding professional.”

President Hainer: "Now a good season"

Andreas Obst: “We also had downs at the wrong moments today, just like sometimes at the end in the EuroLeague. But after such a long season, to stand together and win the title when you’re down 1:2 and with your back against the wall — that shows the character of this team and is remarkable. Especially when players have been out injured for weeks. (…) We struggled at the wrong moments this season, like in the Cup, and we also had some bad luck with injuries. That would have broken many teams. But we pulled through, even though this was the longest season in Europe.”

Shabazz Napier: “To be honest, I think the MVP award should go to the whole group. This unit did a hell of a job this season. Devin played so strong in the last game, today Jo hit the big shots — the whole team deserves it. This season had so many highs and lows, and now it’s just great to be on top. Everyone is tired now, and Ulm had an incredible second half, so we had to fight hard for everything. But now we’re definitely partying — it was such a long ten-month season. And I’ll be the best at the party!”

Herbert Hainer (President): “Congratulations to the team and the coach. When I add everything up, this was a good season crowned with the championship. We played 83 games and performed very well in the EuroLeague as well. We often showed exciting basketball, and you could feel the atmosphere today at the SAP Garden. This amazing atmosphere and the fans’ enthusiasm is something new for Munich. (…) We had 30,000 ticket requests within 24 hours. (…) If you lose today, the whole season feels wasted, and we all worked so hard. Now it’s of course great for the club, for our fans, and the staff that within one year, all three professional departments have won the German championship. (…) We now want to build a team that can take the next step in Europe — into the playoffs — even though that remains difficult.”

Pesic: "It would have been somewhat unfair if..."

Vladimir Lucic: “We are all so happy that we rewarded ourselves for a good season. During the game, I was angry because in all my many years here, I’ve never experienced so little respect from the referees as today. Everyone makes mistakes, I make many mistakes too. But you get your arm in your face and get called for flopping. It’s too much. People should definitely watch the video of the game so it can be better next year. I am very proud to be the captain of this team.”

Marko Pesic: “The last minutes today were like the entire season: very exhausting. But what we went through after Game 3 will surely help the club grow further. Fortunately, we still pulled it off, because it would have been somewhat unfair if this team, this coach, and the staff had nothing to show for it. (…) My first title in 1997 (as a player) and now basically the eleventh and last one, which feels like a crowning achievement — that’s something special. I’m glad it worked out to hand over the club as German champions. In the end, we had 42,000 ticket requests, and the club is in a very good position. Next season with 20 teams in the EuroLeague will be really tough, of course. What the EuroLeague has done is not good — there are way too many games. It will be difficult for the players but also for the coaches to manage.”

Ty Harrelson, Head Coach ratiopharm Ulm: “Congratulations to Bayern Munich on the championship. Gordie did a great job and now has another championship on his résumé. Of course, it’s disappointing to lose the final. You can imagine how it feels to stand there having won. I’m proud of our character, how we fought back and took the lead multiple times in the second half. We had the chances but didn’t close the deal. Bayern hit the big shots at the end. I’m proud of my players and our club — not just because of today, but because of the whole season. It was a special experience for me as head coach. I’m grateful; I could have played with these guys forever. I will miss them when they move on, but they will all have great success.”

FC Bayern Basketball congratulates ratiopharm Ulm on an outstanding season.