From Würzburg to Dallas, as is well known, a basketball player has already taken this path quite successfully. And one who has supported and accompanied Dirk Nowitzki’s world career is Mark Cuban. The owner of the NBA club Dallas Mavericks is considered to be an eloquent man, but this time the multimillionaire raved about Maxi Kleber, also from Würzburg, not about the tall blonde, the 2011 champion.
The fact that a lower Franconian has been throwing baskets in Texas since 2017 sometimes goes a bit under in Germany. And Cuban believes that the 28-year-old is wrongly under the radar in the USA too. “Name me one of the most underrated players in the NBA and the most underrated defender? Maxi Kleber!”, The Mavs boss announced on Twitter after his second import from Germany had performed minor heroic deeds at the game in Denver.
At 124: 117 Kleber had an appearance like Nowitzki earlier: When things got tight, when the last few moments were approaching, Kleber hit his three-point throws like a cool enforcer – three in a row sailed through the trap. Kleber’s goal 2.4 seconds before the end of regular time was equalized by Denver’s Nikola Jokic again, and overtime went. But then it was Luka Doncic in particular who brought home the Dallas victory.
Kleber, who also grabbed eight rebounds, had saved his best actions for crunchtime, the final phase. Something like that is noticeable in the NBA, where games often float for a long time before you get serious. This is exactly what his game is about, the German explained afterwards: “You have to be ready,” said Kleber, who was again in the starting lineup. “The way we play you have to expect to get a throw at all times. I may not get many throws, but I know that mentally I always have to be there.”
It was a moment that basketball players like him know well: his previous throws had failed, but for him it is often not about stubbornly shooting at it. Kleber’s skills are reflected elsewhere: on the defensive, where he pushes opponents away, blocks their shots, collects ricochets – it’s the little things that become big for him. In the ego gamer country of the NBA, selfless professionals like him are rather rare. Three assists and two blocks, plus several picked up balls in overtime, with this balance, Kleber was the match winner this time.
“He had an important rebound towards the end and he really is one of the best defenders in the league,” enthused his coach Rick Carlisle, who has seen a few defensive octopuses in his eternal tenure in Dallas. People like Shawn Marion, who won the title at Nowitzki’s side. Kleber can best be compared with him in purely sporting terms. With Nowitzki, on the other hand, the 2.08-meter man is too reluctant to attack.
Carlisle sees glue as what Americans see glue guy call a guy who holds the team together like glue. How fitting. “Maxi is an excellent basketball player,” said his coach after the coup in Denver, “but he also brings this mental imperturbability with him, he sacrifices himself so that we can win.” Thanks to these qualities, Kleber is certain to be recognized in Dallas – even if he does not always show full marks in the statistics.
Just like a few days ago against Houston, when he picked nine rebounds but didn’t sink a single throw: He had only tried it once and preferred to leave the throwing to his colleagues. So he manages to be effective without doing the Zampano – and it doesn’t matter to him that he’s not the second Nowitzki in Dallas. He would only come close to that if one day he got tens of thousands of Franconians to spend the night because of the NBA finals.
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