Miles Schmidt-Scheuber and Jordan Theodore in Frankfurt, Germany Dec, 2024

If I had to choose a few former Skyliners from the last decade that of course were still playing now and available that I would have liked to have returned back to Frankfurt to help the team as best as possible, I could pick from one hand about 3 players and they would have been a Philip Scrubb, Joe Voigtman or a Jordan Theodore (183-PG-1989, college: Seton Hall). I mean you can never go wrong with these 3 winners who went on to have great careers after helping Frankfurt win the 2016 Fiba Europe Cup. When I saw the Skyliners press release recently that Jordan Theodore would return for a third tour of duty, I was really overjoyed. He might not have had been able to help keep the team in the easyCredit BBL in 2023, but after I saw how good he was moving and playing in the tough loss against Braunschweig minus the 5 turnovers, I´m optimistic that he can turn the season around for the Skyliners. But was his coming back into a precarious situation a no brainer or more of a difficult decision? “I think that it was more difficult. I have a good relationship with Gunnar Wobke and we had been in contact during the season, I wasn´t sure if I wanted to come back. I always love to play. My thinking had nothing to do with the team record, but with me. I had other offers and said no. Coming back to the Skyliners felt good”, stressed Jordan Theodore. His first 2 tour of duties, he was fortunate to be teammates with Skyliner legend Quantez Robertson, but now he is gone and forever will be remembered. It must be very strange for him being without him. “ It is weird. With him gone, now I´m the oldest. Tez was the heart and soul of the team the last years. Now I don´t want to be here with people thinking, I want to replace him. Nobody could ever replace him. I want to show the young guys how the Skyliners way is. Even if I´m back for a third time, I feel new. Just about everyone is gone from the players to the people in the office. It is kind of like a new organization for me. Klaus Perwas is still here and Gunnar as well. The keys to the heart are still here. I have been getting used to the new guys. It has been fun”, said Jordan Theodore. The Skyliner organization has to mean so much to him, but it definitely isn´t the same like almost a decade ago. “Playing for the Skyliners organization has a very special place in my heart. This is the first place where I feel like home. It really reminds me of home. I have that New York feeling here. Everybody speaks English. It just reminds me of home. I have a few places that are close to my home. Frankfurt is top 2. The feeling isn´t the same. 10 years ago, I was a young kid that had to prove himself. Now it is expected of me to be very good. Back then I didn´t know what to expect, but now I have history. The biggest change is Tez not being here. Back in the 22-23 season, I came back because of Tez. I wanted to play one last time with him”, remembered Jordan Theodore.

Jordan Theodore is a 35 year old 184cm point guard from New Jersey playing his 13th professional season and third with the Frankfurt Skylinmers. Last season he began the season with with Boulogne-Levallois Metropolitans 92 (France-Betclic ELITE ProA) averaging 13.3ppg, 3.0rpg, 3.9apg, 1.0spg, 2FGP: 54.5%, 3FGP: 28.3%, FT: 73.2%. and finished with Cazoo Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz (Spain-Liga ACB) averaging 3.0ppg, 2.1apg; and in the Euroleague: averaged 3.5ppg, 1.1apg. He also has gotten experience playing in countries like Turkey, Puerto Rico, Italy, Greece and Russia. He played 4 years at Seton Hall (NCAA) from 2008-2012. He is back in Frankfurt now and in a way has to save the team. Despite the record and 3 massive opponents in the next 11 days with Ulm, Ludwigsburg and Munich, he is very optimistic that the team will be successful. “To be honest, I really think that we can win all 3 of them. It´s all about us. We have to play a great game for 40 minutes. We have to have a great offensive and defensive game. Anything can happen. It is never about who has the biggest name or best record, but who comes to compete. The young guys are working hard in practice. It´s all on me. Can I get the most out of them and lead them well? We will be ready”, warned Jordan Theodore. He has only been here a short while, and can´t give a real impression of the team yet, but knows what the team has to do in the next games to win. “That is hard to say. I didn´t watch too much of the team before I got here. I know that we have won all the cup games so far. Not having a veteran has been tough, but now I´m here. We are getting better every day. We are competing better. The young players have to learn from their mistakes. We need to grow, but it won´t happen overnight. We will become better. We need to be focused for 40 minutes and play at a high level. We also need good communication and stick together. Basketball should be fun. It isn´t always easy to add a player like me, but I´m not selfish. We have had flashes with my leadership. We have to grow with that”, stressed Jordan Theodore.

He has only been with the club a short while, but he has gotten to know the games of some of his teammates especially the 2 explosive Americans Trey Calvin and Malik Parsons. Does he see a little of him in their play as young players? “I don´t know. They are tremendous players and very athletic. We come from different places. They work hard and are eager to learn. They are gym rats. They are always seeking knowledge. I´m really happy to be with them. I can be ball dominated and I want to contribute at a high level, but at the same time not take anything away from their games”, warned Jordan Theodore. One guy he is really impressed with is Danish champion Malik Parsons who has had huge games and is on the radar of Euroleague teams. “He is very talented. He can score and is very athletic. He can go as far as he wants to. Sky is the limit for him. Calvin and him are better shooters than I was at their ages”, said Jordan Theodore. “Other teammates that he is also dazzled by is the play of 2 hero´s from last season´s Pro A team David Muenkat and Booker Cooplin who are vital parts of the team. “I call Dave the next Tez. He is the heart and soul and can do it all. He is always playing with energy. You can ask him to do anything. He can play 1-5 like Tez did. Booker is a very hard worker and can also do a lot of things. He has been under the radar and now can shine. Both are the kind of guys that you want on a team. They are fighters which is a unique trait to have in today´s game. I´m proud to have them on the team”, added Jordan Theodore. A lot has changed in the game of 2018 NBBL champion Lorenz Brenneke as well as he is continuing to make big steps in his game. “Lorenz was actually hurt when I was here the last time. He is also a unique talent. He is a lefty with a nice touch around the rim. He works hard and is a fighter. He is always the first guy in the gym. He will become great in the next years”, commented Jordan Theodore.

Jordan Theodore is 35 years old and isn´t the youngest anymore, but he still has game. He has been competing and being consistent at a high level for years. Despite the 5 turnovers in the loss to Braunschweig, he looked very good in many other areas of his offensive game. He is confident that he still has much more to offer in the next games. “I work out 1-2 times a day even when I´m not playing basketball. Basketball has brought me therapy my whole life. Whenever I did something bad as a kid or had hardships in my career, I always used basketball as a fuel. I honestly think that you haven´t seen my best yet. I haven´t really played since last May when I was in Spain. I´m just coming back to my game again now. I think that in the next games, I will be even quicker, make better reads and be better defensively”, expressed Jordan Theodore. He has seen a lot in the last 9 years and played in many different leagues. With more experience, he also has grown as a player and added new things. “I can shoot off the dribble better. I knew I would be all over the place in the first games back. I had too many turnovers, but that was because I hadn´t practiced enough with the team yet. I will fix the turnovers”, warned Jordan Theodore. He is also a different kind of leader now than in 2016. It is definitely much more of a challenge now than then. “Now it is harder to lead. When I was younger, I was always a gym rat. I was firey and had responses to Gordy Herbert. But now as an older guy you can´t talk back to the coach. It is not good to do that in front of the young players. I´m always asking questions and am eager to learn. I have been around the game for a long time and have seen so much. If I question a coach now, it isn´t to belittle him, but to ask questions that might make it easier for the younger guys to understand”, stated Jordan Theodore. Some may think that this might be his last destination as a player, but he is hopeful the ride will continue. “I just love the game. 5 years ago, people would ask me if I might coach one day, but I said no. I didn´t want to manage players on a daily level and have to deal with ego´s. But then I began to train my nephew and it brought me so much joy. I never forced the game on him. I always told him, call me when your ready. Then I got that call one day and he told me that he wanted to play. I fell in love with the game again and want to coach when my playing days are over. I feel like I still have to prove myself. I still see myself having 2-3 good more years ahead of me”, warned Jordan Theodore. His zeal for the game is still so strong. “ I enjoy being together with the guys every day and just enjoy everything that comes with it. When your young, you never think about the ride coming to an end. Now I´m at an age where I have to be prepared of teams saying they might not want me because of my age. I really enjoy being like a teacher now. I want to help the young point guards, I want to show them the most that this is how we do it”, laughed Jordan Theodore.

Even if the win of the Fiba Europe Cup is more than 8,5 years ago, the bond to his teammates is still there. He is a very outgoing guy and was one of the leaders on that championship team. It would be strange if he had only contact to a few. “To be honest I talk to all. I have with relationships with all from Mike Mo, Aaron Doornekamp, Sean Armand (even if he was from the 2014-2015 season), Phil Scrubb, Danilo Barthel, Gordie Herbert (He is my guy. He is a mentor for me, we speak all the time), Konsti, Klein, John Little, Max Merz, Johannes Richter, Tomas Dimsa and Garai Zeeb (he is my little bro). I have spoken to Joe Voigtmann in a while, but played against him since then”, said Jordan Theodore. He and Quantez Robertson have birthdays only 5 days apart and are like family. A few days ago Tez turned 40 years old. It is only obvious that he has the most special relationship to him. “He is my dog. I love that guy. He is texting me now as were talking. I have so much to say to him, but then again not enough to say. He is a great leader and captain. You always pick a leader after you won a title. He showed that by remaining in Frankfurt after the Fiba title. I told him after to go to Turkey to get some money, but I´m so happy he stayed. He said no. He said that Frankfurt was in his heart. I´m so honored to stand in the arena and look up at his jersey”, stated Jordan Theodore. With Christmas around the corner, he only has one wish for Christmas and that is peace everywhere. Jordan Theodore wasn´t able to save the Skyliners in 2022-2023, but now he can get revenge on that season and hopefully bring back some of that magic from the 2015-2016 season. I´m confident he can, because this guy still has much game left in his tank. It is only logical that he also wants to make his good friend Tez proud.