Maximilian Kleber (born 29 January 1992) is a German professional

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 for the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA). At , he plays the

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

position.

Early life

Kleber played in the youth ranks of TG Veitshöchheim, SC Heuchelhof and TG Würzburg.

Professional career

Würzburg (2011–2014)

Kleber made his professional debut in Germany's top-flight

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 ...

during the 2011–12 season, representing the s.Oliver Baskets, a team based in his hometown

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...

. In his first year, he was a role player on the team with an average of 7 minutes a game. In his second season, he grew to become an important player on the team, that averaged 9.9 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. In 2012, he declared for the

NBA draft The NBA draft is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) annual event, dating back to 1947 BAA draft, 1947, in which the teams in the league can Draft (sports), draft players who declare for the draft and that are Eligibility for the NBA dr ...

before removing his name from the list. He became auto-eligible for the NBA draft in 2014, but was not picked by any team.

Obradoiro (2014–2015)

In the 2014 off-season, he signed a two-year deal with Spanish club

Obradoiro CAB Obradoiro Clube de Amigos do Baloncesto, S.A.D. (lit, Obradoiro Friends of Basketball Club), also known as Monbus Obradoiro for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball team based in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia. They currently comp ...

. In the

2014–15 ACB season The 2014–15 ACB season was the 32nd season of the Spanish basketball league, also called Liga Endesa in its sponsored identity. The regular season started on 4 October 2014 and finished on 24 May 2015. The playoffs, joined by the eight first qu ...

, he was named

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

of round 25 after scoring 36 points against

Fuenlabrada Fuenlabrada () is a city and municipality of Spain located in the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 193,586, making it the region's fourth most populated municipality. Placename The etymology of ''Fuenlabrada'' comes from the contra ...

. Kleber made 33 appearances in the league that year, averaging 11.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.

Bayern Munich (2015–2017)

On 1 July 2015, Kleber returned to Germany and signed a two-year deal with

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

. In 2015–16, he played 24 Bundesliga games for Bayern, including 17 starts, averaging 8.0 points and 4.9 boards per game. He appeared in 37 games (37 starts) during the 2016–17 Bundesliga season, supplying averages of 9.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.

Dallas Mavericks (2017–2025)

On 13 July 2017, Kleber signed with the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Divisi ...

. He made his NBA debut on 21 October 2017 against the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA) ...

. Kleber moved from end of bench piece to key rotation player in his first few years, increasing his points, rebounds, assists and blocks per game numbers in each of his first three seasons. He was re-signed by the Mavericks on 10 July 2019. On 21 February 2020, Kleber scored a career-high 26 points against the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NB ...

in a 122–106 victory. In the 2019–20 season, Kleber posted a career high 9.1 points per game. He led the league in games played with 74 games and finished 19th in the league in blocks per game. Kleber played in his first playoffs that year against the second seed

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The ...

. Kleber was tasked with guarding

Kawhi Leonard Kawhi Anthony Leonard ( ; born June 29, 1991) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A two-time NBA champion, he is a six-time NBA All-Star, All-Star and a six- ...

for most of the series. Kleber struggled shooting the ball in the series, averaging 6.7 points per game and making just 5 of his 26 three-point attempts across the six-game series. Kleber began the 2020–21 season strong, averaging 7.4 points per game and shooting 47.2% from three-point range in his first 9 games. Kleber would go on to miss the next 10 games however, as he recovered from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

. Kleber would return to action 2 February 2021 against the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

. He logged 17 minutes of game play, grabbing 6 rebounds and scoring 2 points. Kleber and the Mavericks would go on to lose to the

in the first round of the playoffs in 7 games. On 18 April 2022, during game 2 of the first round of the playoffs, Kleber scored 25 points and hit eight 3-pointers in a 110–104 win over the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...

. In the 2022 off-season, he signed a four-year contract extension with the Mavericks. On 17 March 2023, Kleber made a buzzer-beating, game-winning three-pointer in a 111–110 win over the

. Kleber helped Dallas reach the

2024 NBA Finals The 2024 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 2023–24 NBA season, 2023–24 season and conclusion to 2024 NBA playoffs, the season's playoffs. In the best-of-seven playoffs series, the Eastern ...

where the Mavericks lost to the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

in five games.

Los Angeles Lakers (2025–present)

On 2 February 2025, Kleber was traded, alongside

Luka Dončić Luka Dončić ( ; ; born February 28, 1999) is a Slovenian professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Since his rookie season, he has been selected to five NBA All-Star games and fiv ...

and

Markieff Morris Markieff Morris ( ; born September 2, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Kansas Jayhawks before being drafted 13th over ...

, to the

in exchange for Max Christie,

Anthony Davis Anthony Marshon Davis Jr. (born March 11, 1993), nicknamed "AD" and "the Brow", is an American professional basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Davis, a Power forward (basketball), power f ...

and a 2029 first-round pick. The Lakers also traded Jalen Hood-Schifino and a 2025 second round pick to the

, who also acquired a 2025 second-round pick from the Mavericks. On April 30, 2025, during the first round of the playoffs, Kleber made his debut for the Lakers. He scored two points in a 103–96 loss against the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves (often referred to as the Wolves or T-wolves) are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Divisio ...

, eliminating the Lakers from the playoffs.

National team career

Kleber has also played games for the senior German national team. In 2014, he played for the team during the EuroBasket qualification rounds. Kleber was forced to sit out the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

as he was recovering from an Achilles injury.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, 72 , , 35 , , 16.8 , , .489 , , .313 , , .746 , , 3.3 , , .7 , , .4 , , .7 , , 5.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 71 , , 18 , , 21.2 , , .453 , , .353 , , .784 , , 4.6 , , 1.0 , , .5 , , 1.1 , , 6.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, style="background:#cfecec;", 74* , , 21 , , 25.5 , , .461 , , .373 , , .849 , , 5.2 , , 1.2 , , .3 , , 1.1 , , 9.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 50 , , 40 , , 26.8 , , .422 , , .410 , , .919 , , 5.2 , , 1.4 , , .5 , , .7 , , 7.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 59 , , 21 , , 24.6 , , .398 , , .325 , , .708 , , 5.9 , , 1.2 , , .5 , , 1.0 , , 7.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 37 , , 5 , , 25.1 , , .456 , , .348 , , .711 , , 3.6 , , 1.4 , , .3 , , .8 , , 5.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 43 , , 7 , , 20.3 , , .432 , , .348 , , .702 , , 3.3 , , 1.6 , , .4 , , .7 , , 4.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 34 , , 4 , , 18.7 , , .385 , , .265 , , .762 , , 2.8 , , 1.3 , , .3 , , .5 , , 3.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 440 , , 151 , , 22.3 , , .443 , , .354 , , .776 , , 4.4 , , 1.2 , , .4 , , .9 , , 6.4

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 6 , , 6 , , 33.9 , , .333 , , .192 , , .750 , , 6.5 , , 1.5 , , .3 , , 1.2 , , 6.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 7 , , 4 , , 26.8 , , .400 , , .400 , , .714 , , 3.6 , , 1.4 , , .4 , , .0 , , 5.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 18 , , 0 , , 25.4 , , .509 , , .436 , , .714 , , 4.6 , , 1.1 , , .2 , , .8 , , 8.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 13 , , 0 , , 16.8 , , .410 , , .429 , , .667 , , 1.9 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , .3 , , 3.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , 1 , , 0 , , 5.0 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 2.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 45 , , 10 , , 23.8 , , .442 , , .386 , , .729 , , 3.8 , , 1.2 , , .3 , , .6 , , 6.3

References

External links

* *
Maximilian Kleber
at

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 ...

Maximilian Kleber
at Euroleague.net (archived) *
archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kleber, Maxi 1992 births Living people 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup players 21st-century German sportsmen Dallas Mavericks players FC Bayern Munich basketball players German expatriate basketball people in Spain German expatriate basketball people in the United States German men's basketball players Liga ACB players NBA players from Germany Obradoiro CAB players Power forwards Würzburg Baskets players Sportspeople from Würzburg Undrafted NBA players