Lakers relishing Maxi Kleber’s success: ‘He does everything right’

Familiar scenes played out early in the second quarter of the Lakers’ blowout win over the Kings on Sunday night even though the actual plays were rare.

The first: after cutting off Malik Monk’s drive out of a pick and roll to force a pass to Drew Eubanks, who fumbled the ball after Marcus Smart’s deflection, Maxi Kleber getting back into the play and blocking Eubanks’s layup attempt at the 9:17 mark of the second, which started the Lakers’ transition attack. 

The second: after the Lakers ran their Stack action, Luka Doncic whipped a one-handed pass to a rolling Kleber inside of the paint, with Kleber taking two quick steps before dunking over Precious Achiuwa a couple of minutes later after the blocked shot.

Sunday was the second straight game that Kleber, who finished with six points, six rebounds and a blocked shot against the Kings, was in the rotation after playing 13 minutes against the Warriors on Saturday night. 

But for most of the season, Kleber’s playing time has been sporadic, mainly being in the rotation if the Lakers are dealing with injuries or foul trouble. 

Which is why everyone on the Lakers’ bench stood on their feet and celebrated Kleber’s plays — customary when a teammate makes highlight plays, but the moments had extra juice to them because it was Kleber who made the plays.

“We have a lot of good guys on our team,” coach JJ Redick said. “Love these guys. [Kleber’s] teammates love him. He’s a terrific teammate. It’s easy to root for his success.”

What makes Kleber so easy to root for?

“He does everything right, man,” Smart told the Califorinia Post. “And he’s such a good person. He wants to see everybody win, even though he’s not winning in certain circumstances of not getting playing time as much as he would like, probably. Not getting the ball as much as he would like. But he doesn’t let that deter him from cheering on his teammates and being there for his teammates. And then when he does get in and his opportunity comes, taking full advantage of it.”

The 11 minutes per game Kleber’s averaging through 60 games is easily the fewest of his career, almost six minutes fewer than the 16.8 he averaged during his rookie season.

And it isn’t just his playing time that’s taken a decline. He’s averaging career-lows across the board in a variety of statistical categories.

But the 34-year-old Kleber remains a valuable teammate and veteran presence inside of the Lakers’ locker room. 

“There’s not a negative bone in his body towards anybody,” Smart told the Post. “When you got a guy like that, sometimes it’s easy to take him for granted. But it’s also easy to root for him like hell when he does get his opportunity because he does so much for us that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet at all. 

“Just his ability to be able to talk to guys. Uses his experience and his understanding of the situation he’s in to help guys. Not allowing that to bring him down and also help bring other guys up even when he could sit over there and pout. And nobody would blame him. But he chooses not to. And when you got a guy like that, that’s contagious.”

Which makes big plays Kleber makes when he is able to get on the floor, and the energy they spark, contagious.

“He always brings good energy,” Rui Hachimura said. “We always talk about how we wanna be like him. We always talk about that. Whether playing or not, he’s always on the bench, cheering for the team, trying to help the team win. [That] kind of stuff is really big. He knows exactly what his role [is].”

The energy Kleber provides for the Lakers comes back around to him.

“Every time I do something, you look to the bench, everybody’s celebrating,” Kleber said. “Obviously, it’s [a] good push for me, good push for the team.”

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