Per Günther (born 5 February 1988) is a German former

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. He saw action in 500 games of the

Basketball Bundesliga The Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) (English language: ''Federal Basketball League''), for sponsorship reasons named easyCredit BBL, is the German basketball league system, highest level Sports league, league of professional club basketball in German ...

for

Ratiopharm Ulm Ratiopharm Ulm, officially stylized as ratiopharm ulm, is a professional basketball club based in Ulm, Germany. The club has two teams, one professional team, which plays in the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL), the major German professional league an ...

. He also competed with the

German national basketball team The Germany men's national basketball team ( or ''Die Mannschaft'') represents Germany in international basketball competition. The team is directed by the German Basketball Federation (''Deutscher Basketball Bund''), the governing body for b ...

at the

2010 FIBA World Championship The 2010 FIBA World Championship was the 16th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship contested by the List of men's national basketball teams, men's national teams. The tournament ran from 28 August to 12 Septem ...

.Profile
at FIBA.com Günther is known as one of the best domestic players in Germany of his time, as he has played in eight BBL All-Star Games.

Professional career

Born in

Hagen Hagen () is a city in the States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany, on the southeastern edge of the Ruhr area, 15 km south of Dortmund, where the rivers Lenne and Volme meet the Ruhr (river), Ruhr. In 2023, the ...

, West Germany, Günther began his professional career with German side

Phoenix Hagen Phoenix Hagen is a German professional basketball club that is based in Hagen, Germany. After withdrawing from the Basketball Bundesliga in November 2016, Phoenix Hagen re-launched its basketball team for the 2017-18 ProA season. The ProA is Germ ...

, then a part of the German

ProA The ProA is the German basketball league system, second-tier Sports league, league of professional club basketball in Germany. The league comprises 16 teams. Officially the ProA is part of the ''2. Basketball Bundesliga'', which consists of the t ...

(the second tier of German basketball). Günther had a highly successful 2007–08 season for Hagen, averaging 14.5 points and 2.4 assists per game. Following the season, he was named the league's Most Improved Player and was voted to the ''

Eurobasket.com Eurobasket.com, also commonly referred to as "Eurobasket News", is a basketball-centered website that provides coverage of every professional and semi-professional club basketball league from around the world, as well as many amateur level lea ...

'' All-ProA Second Team. On the heels of his successful season with Hagen, Günther joined

(BBL) side

ratiopharm Ulm Ratiopharm Ulm, officially stylized as ratiopharm ulm, is a professional basketball club based in Ulm, Germany. The club has two teams, one professional team, which plays in the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL), the major German professional league an ...

for the 2008–09 season, helping the team to a fifth place league finish. In the 2009–10 season, he averaged 6.6 points and 2.5 assists for Ulm, although the team struggled to a 13th-place finish in the league. On 9 January 2016, Günther participated in his sixth BBL All-Star game and he was named the BBL All-Star Game MVP. Günther retired in May 2022.

International career

Günther was one of the top junior players in Germany. He first played with the

at the 2004 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship. He later competed with the junior squads at both the 2007 and 2008

FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship The FIBA U20 EuroBasket is the new name for the FIBA U20 European Championship, originally known as the European Championship for Men '22 and Under'. It is a men's youth basketball competition that was inaugurated with the 1992 edition. Through ...

. Günther's first major tournament as a member of the German senior national team was the

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. He won a total of 65 caps for Germany's national team.

Personal

His brother Jasper Günther has also been a successful basketball player.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gunther, Per 1988 births Living people 2010 FIBA World Championship players German men's basketball players Phoenix Hagen players Point guards Ratiopharm Ulm players Sportspeople from Hagen 21st-century German sportsmen