Maik Zirbes
Maik Zirbes (born January 29, 1990) is a German professional basketball player who plays for Crvena zvezda of the ABA League and the Euroleague. He also represents the senior German national basketball team in the international competitions. Standing at , he plays the center position. Early career. Zirbes first played soccer, but opted to focus on basketball when he was 12 years old. He started his basketball career in the youth set up of TBB Trier before signing his first professional contract with TBB at the age of 17. In the 2008–09 campaign, Zirbes was named Most Valuable Player  of the German youth league NBBL. Professional career. Zirbes played with TBB Trier until signing a three-year contract with Brose Baskets in June 2012. On August 5, 2014, Zirbes signed a two-year deal with the Serbian team Crvena zvezda. In his first 2014–15 season with the club, Crvena zvezda won the Adriatic League championship, the Serbian League championship and the Radivoj Korać Cup. In June 2015, he exercised his player option for the 2015–16 season. On June 13, 2016, Zirbes signed a two-year contract with the Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv. On January 24, 2017, Zirbes returned  to Germany and signed with Bayern Munich on loan, till the end of the season. On July 30, 2017, Zirbes signed a two-year contract extension with Bayern Munich. On July 17, 2018, he returned to Crvena zvezda. During his one year stint with KK Crvena zvezda, Zirbes averaged 7.7 points and 4 rebounds in just over 15 minutes per game. His best game was on October 8, 2018 in a 87–71 win against KK Budućnost in the round 2 of the ABA League regular season, where he scored 19 points and grabbed 6 rebounds in 22 minutes. After being  cut from the roster for the Basketball League of Serbia, on May 3, 2019, Zirbes signed for the Guangxi Weizhuang of the National Basketball League (China). On September 26, 2019, he has signed with Cedevita Olimpija of the Slovenian League. On July 12, 2020, he has signed with Shabab Al Ahli of the UAE National Basketball League. On September 15, 2021, he signed with Crvena zvezda until the end of 2021, with an option to extend it for the season. National team career. Zirbes represented the German Junior National Teams at the 2008 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship and the 2010  FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship. He was handed his first cap with the senior German national basketball team in August 2009, when Germany took on the Netherlands. In 2013, Zirbes was a member of Germany's roster at the 2013 EuroBasket, in Slovenia.