For all those people that enjoyed sports as a kid and young adult, there is always that special moment that one will never forget. If it was hitting that game winning home run in little league, or making that game winning touchdown or game winning goal in soccer, there is always something that one can look back with joy. It wasn´t any different for me. It may be hard to believe, but basketball was not one of my main 3 sports growing up in high school, but it was soccer, ice hockey, and baseball/tennis. Coming from New England and living next to a lake, it was only logical to grow up playing ice hockey as I stepped on the ice for the first time at age 3. Basketball was always a big part of my youth life, but had to take a back step to ice hockey, but I played pick up basketball with my friends whenever I could during recces or after school. Going to prep school Avon old Farms school in Connecticut, it was only logical that I play ice Hockey. Avon Old Farms have had the distinction for decades as belonging to the top ice hockey schools in the country having produced countless NHL players including former Stanley Cup champions like Jonathan Quick and Nick Bonino. But the most famous player ever to put on a Avon jersey was Brian Leetch who won the 1994 Stanley Cup with the New York Rangers and is one of the best if not greatest American defenseman to ever play in the NHL and is in the Hockey Hall of fame. I had the pleasure of being at Avon when he was a senior. I was a 10th grader and on the third hockey team, while he was captain of the Varsity team. I remember being on the ice with him during Varsity try-outs knowing I would never make the team, but just knowing one day to be able to tell my grand children that I practiced with Leetch. I enjoyed playing sports at Avon and my fondest moment there was winning athlete of the week twice during the school year, an award that was given every week to the best performing student athlete. I won it for ice hockey and Tennis and was the only kid that year to win it twice. Current Fraport Skyliner Junior Marvin Esser (196-SF-2005) also has his fondest moment and surprisingly it wasn´t winning the German U-14 title with Eintracht Frankfurt, but 2 different things. “My 2 fondest moments so far as a basketball player was making an alley oop dunk in pre season against a Czech team and just being coached again by my U-14 coach Thore Bethke”, smiled Marvin Esser.

Marvin Esser who names current Oberaching forward Maxwell Temoka as his toughest opponent so far in his career was born on September 17th, 2005 and grew up in Bornheim a suburb of Frankfurt. Even if he stated that he had a normal childhood, it surely couldn´t have been an easy one. He suffered a tragedy when he was only 9 years old as he and his younger brother lost their father to suicide. “It was a crazy change as it came out of nothing. We got a lot of support from our mother and grandparents. We both were so young and didn´t understand why it happened”, stressed Marvin Esser. Luckily for him he had found a love to sports at a very young age. He enjoyed swimming and liked playing basketball in the park at age 5. It still took some years before he began to play organized basketball. At age 8, he signed up with the Fraport Skyliners U-10 team and has been with the organization ever since. He played with the U-12, U-14 teams, JBBL (U-16 team and last season was a key important member of the NBBL (U-19) team and also has played minutes for the Pro B team. Like so many young German boys his basketball inspiration was Dirk Nowitzki and growing up his favorite Skyliner players were legend Quantez Robertson known as Tez and the tall and always joking teammate Mike Morrison. He still possesses a Tez jersey that he bought when he was younger.

Miles Schmidt-Scheuber and Marvin Esser at BCM 2024

The forward lists Lebron James as his GOAT played his third season with the NBBL team last season and continued to make strides with his game. In his first season he played 11 games averaging 3,2ppg and 2,5rpg while 2 seasons played 7 games averaging 5,4ppg and 5,4rpg. Last season he is averaging 7,7ppg, 6,1rpg and 1,76pg. He has made solid strides year by year, as his development has been more than visible in the last years. “I feel like my development has been good. I have gotten more athletic and physical and I´m not scared to do things with my game”, stressed Marvin Esser. He is a player that can show his versatility on every possession at both ends of the court. “I´m big and strong and help set screens so the guards can bring the ball up court. I have to do dirty work on the rim, but I like to do it. I like to help the team on the pick and roll, rebounding and just showing my presence inside”, warned Marvin Esser. He was on a team that had many scoring options with Dusan Nikolic and the Zentgraf brothers, so he had no real pressure to have to score, but on the other hand, these 3 guys are good creators as well so he did get his share of easy buckets inside. “The opponent focuses their defense on other players and not on me. It makes scoring for me a lot easier. I get a lot of back door baskets”, smiled Marvin Esser. One teammate with whom he has a great relationship with was Leif Zentgraf who was his teammate on the U-14 championship team in 2019. Zentgraf is one of those guys that won´t shy away from making that one extra pass inside and find him for the easy basket. “We can get mad at each other on the court, but overall we both know exactly what the other can do on the court”, commented Marvin Esser.

The 196cm forward who lists Lebron James, Steph Curry, Shaq and Michael Jordan on his NBA Mount Rushmore and Nikola Jokic, Doncic and Franz Wagner on his Euro Mount Rushmore is a player that had problems comparing his game to a professional player, so what better person to ask than his NBBL coach Thore Bethke who knows his game better than anyone else. He didn´t need much time to come up with 2 players. “I would compare his game as a mix between Jonas Wohlfarth-Bottermann and Leon Radosevic”, smiled Thore Bethke. Esser is the type of player every team needs. He is that classic glue guy that does so many important things including things that don´t always show up on the stat sheet. His athleticism is a big strength in his game and his jumping abilities often allow him to get rebounds that other guys might not get. His rebounding, setting screens and put backs are very valuable, but his defense also. “I think that I´m a solid defender at the moment. I do a good job inside, but I want to be better outside. I still get beat too often, but I´m working on it”, added Marvin Esser. He also knows that if he wants to continue to make continued steps in his game, he also will have to work on his approach to the game. “My will has to be better. Sometimes I become lazy and don´t give enough energy. In close games, I´m always there. But during blow outs, I tend to drift away mentally. I have to work on that as well as on my shot and finishing”, explained Marvin Esser. He also has been fortunate to also received minutes for the Fraport Skyliners Juniors who play in the Pro B. He has played 6 games averaging 7,3mpg and 2,5ppg and 1,7rpg. “In the Pro B the game is more physical and the opponents more skilled. I am fortunate to have seen minutes and have had some good games. I feel like I can develop well here”, stated Marvin Esser. His best game so far was against Coburg where he showed how versatile he can be and filled the stat sheet with a 9/8/2/1/1 game. If he had to pick one player that has had the biggest influence on him then it has been Jordan Samare. “I like to watch Jordan play. We are both big and athletic. He has the kind of shot that I want to have. I hope to be able to develop well the way he has the last years”, stressed Marvin Esser. So what is the long term goal of Marvin Esser? At the moment he is in 12th grade working to get his Abitur degree. He would like to go to university, but is still undecided about what he wants to study. As far as on the court, he has a goal. “I would like to become a pro, but at the moment, I don´t know how realistic it is. Whatever happens in the next years, I will still like to play basketball in some kind of capacity”, stressed Marvin Esser. The pro question is still down the road, but in the 2024-2025 season he will continue to work on his goal by playing Pro B with the Fraport Skyliners Juniors and 2Regionalliga for Eintracht Frankfurt