On Thursday, the NBA played its first-ever regular season game in Berlin, Germany. The Orlando Magic faced off against the Memphis Grizzlies in a thrilling game that the Magic ultimately won. Orlando was chosen to play in the game due to having three major rotational players from Germany, including Franz Wagner, former Los Angeles Lakers draftee Moe Wagner and Tristan da Silva.
The Lakers were not chosen to participate, despite having a European superstar in Luka Doncic and Maxi Kleber, who also comes from Germany. While it’s probably best for the injury-riddled Lakers that they didn’t have to fly to Berlin, then London, then back to L.A., it would have been an incredible experience for Kleber.
The Lakers center spoke about the NBA playing in Berlin and how incredible it is for the sport and the country of Germany, as seen on Spectrum SportsNet:
“It was a great event. Big for basketball. We’ve got a lot of basketball fans, it’s growing in Germany, so it was really great to see so many people interested in it. And then obviously with the Wagner brothers being back home in Berlin City, it was just overall an amazing event. Everybody who came back to me said it was just fun to go to.”
The Lakers played on Thursday night, shortly after the conclusion of the Berlin Game, making it impossible for Kleber to have been in attendance. It seemed as though virtually every major NBA player with German ties was at the game, with Dirk Nowitzki playing a major role in the broadcast and fan outreach of the event.
It was clear from the game, though, that the NBA has a real opportunity in Germany. Fans were extremely excited to be in attendance — there was a long waitlist for tickets — and loved seeing the Wagner brothers and da Silva get the win.
Maxi Kleber gets the start in losing effort to Trail Blazers
Lakers head coach JJ Redick turned to Kleber on Saturday night to be in the starting lineup with both Deandre Ayton and Jaxson Hayes out. L.A. was bullied on the boards — 42-27 — and lost by 16 to the Portland Trail Blazers. Kleber had 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting and grabbed five rebounds.
Drew Timme, one of the Lakers’ two-way players, got a career-high 21 points in 29 minutes off the bench, ultimately playing more than Kleber did in the losing effort. The Lakers hope to get one or both of their centers back for Sunday night against the Toronto Raptors.
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