Maxi Kleber: An Unsung Hero for the Los Angeles Lakers
Maxi Kleber has been a somewhat forgotten member of the Los Angeles Lakers roster this season. After joining the franchise as part of the trade deal that brought Luka Doncic earlier this year, Kleber unfortunately suffered an injury that limited his playing opportunities.
So far, Kleber has appeared in just three games for the Lakers, with his most recent outing coming against the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday, November 15. Despite limited minutes, his contributions in Los Angeles’ latest win did not go unnoticed.
Head coach JJ Redick praised Kleber’s performance during his postgame news conference:
“Maxi Kleber has not been in the rotation all season,” Redick explained. “He’s played in a couple of blowouts and knew he was going to be part of the rotation tonight. He made one basket, but had a huge impact on the game with his physicality, his talk, and just what I would describe as what we want the Lakers’ spirit to be—just being a great teammate. The defense, the rebounding, all the stuff that are winning basketball plays. He was a big part of that tonight.”
Though the box score may not fully reflect Kleber’s influence—he finished the night with three points, three assists, and one rebound in 25 minutes—his presence was a key factor in the Lakers securing their second straight victory.
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Deandre Ayton Thriving in Lakers System
In the same news conference, Coach Redick discussed how the Lakers have been getting the best out of big man Deandre Ayton. Ayton joined Los Angeles during the summer after his contract was bought out by the Portland Trail Blazers.
“He is the DeAndre that the team needs him to be,” Redick said. “To me, he feeds off of the group’s energy, and he feeds off of empowerment and encouragement and positive reinforcement. And it took, you know, eight to ten days to figure that out in the preseason. And once we did, it’s been really awesome to watch him grow with this group and be fully engaged and be a part of this team.”
Ayton has appeared in 13 games this season, averaging an impressive 16.2 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, while shooting 69.2% from the field.
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Austin Reaves Reflects on Successful Road Trip
The win over the Bucks concluded a challenging road trip for the Lakers, who went 3-2 across five games. This included back-to-back victories against the New Orleans Pelicans and Milwaukee Bucks.
Speaking to the media after the game, Austin Reaves shared why he was satisfied with the team’s performance throughout the trip:
“To go 3-2 on a trip like this early in the year, it’s good,” Reaves said. “Obviously, you wish you’d just played a little better in Atlanta and OKC, but it’s the league and you’re going to have nights like that.”
He continued, “You had to learn to move on. We had a good win last night and then turned the page and got here and played a really, really good first half; it was a really good full game. We had a couple of stretches there in the third quarter that weren’t great, but that’s a good team with some really good players. It’s good to be 3-2 on this trip.”
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With contributions from players like Maxi Kleber and Deandre Ayton rising, along with strong leadership from the coaching staff, the Lakers look poised to build momentum as the season progresses.
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