Oilers' Leon Draisaitl hails Germany's mens basketball team for clinching gold medal at EuroBasket final

Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl showed his support for Germany’s national basketball team this weekend after their EuroBasket 2025 championship victory.

On Sunday, Draisaitl reposted a celebratory graphic from Sky Sport DE on his Instagram story following Germany’s 88-83 win over Turkey in the final. In the caption, he added:

“Maschinen 🏀🥇,” which translates to “Machines” in English.

The victory marked Germany’s first EuroBasket title since 1993. Isaac Bonga led the team in the final with 20 points, while Franz Wagner added 18. Dennis Schröder orchestrated the offense with 16 points and 12 assists, earning tournament MVP honors after delivering the game’s decisive baskets in the final minute.

Turkey led at halftime behind Alperen Şengün’s 28 points and Cedi Osman’s 23, but Germany rallied in the second half to complete a perfect 9-0 run through the competition.

Leon Draisaitl "itchin'" to dive into new NHL season

Leon Draisaitl shared just how excited he is ahead of the 2025-26 NHL season this week. On Wednesday, the star center shared a two-photo carousel on Instagram featuring a click of himself in full gear inside the locker room alongside an image of a fully packed Rogers Place.

The post, captioned “NOW PLAYING,” drew immediate reactions from fans and the team, with the Oilers’ official account responding, “let’s goooooo 👏.”

The 29-year-old’s off-season has been equally eventful. Draisaitl married longtime partner, Canadian actress Celeste Desjardins in August at the scenic Domaine de Manville in Les Baux-de-Provence, France. The event was attended by several current and former Oilers and their partners including Connor Brown, Evander Kane, Tyson Barrie, Zach Hyman among other guests.

Following their wedding, the couple joined Oilers captain Connor McDavid and his wife Lauren Kyle for a trip to Saint-Tropez on the French Riviera. Celeste later shared highlights of the trip on Instagram including beachside dining with Lauren, outdoor parties and a boat ride along the Riviera. She also shared a few sweet moments including a clip of Draisaitl and herself dancing together captioned:

“Dancing with my hubby in the South of France.”

Earlier in the summer, the couple attended the wedding of Los Angeles Kings forward Warren Foegele and Alexandra Servos in Toronto. Desjardins praised the bride as “the most beautiful bride everrrrr” while Servos shared glimpses from Draisaitl and Desjardins’ own French wedding celebration.

About the author

Anjum is an NHL reporter at Sportskeeda with over five years of professional experience in the spectator sports industry. Raised in Bahrain, Anjum grew up close to the Formula 1 and GP2 scene, but it was ice-sports that she truly had a chance to play at school.

Anjum prioritizes thorough research, fact-checking and verification of sources when reporting, and has worked for Oil on Whyte, Leafs Herald, the Nation of Blaugrana, Barca International Cules, FromTheBend, Last Word On Sports and NASA.

She got interested in ice hockey after watching the “MVP” trilogy as a second grader and has not gotten over the sport yet. Her favorite player is Alex Ovechkin, whose legendary one-timers live rent free in her heart. The iconic moment when Ovechkin reached 800 career goals with a hat trick in Chicago as the away crowd chanted “Ovi, Ovi” is probably her happiest memory from an ice-rink.

When not enjoying the game, Anjum can be found sailing, star-mapping or collaborating with fellow citizen scientists at NASA.

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Edited by Anjum Rajonno