The Los Angeles Lakers announced on Tuesday that power forward/center Maxi Kleber suffered an oblique strain and will be re-evaluated in two weeks. Since Kleber isn’t going to be evaluated again until early November, it’s safe to assume he’ll miss additional time as he works his way back from this injury.
Kleber has been unable to stay healthy during his brief Lakers tenure. He was acquired by Los Angeles last February in the team’s blockbuster Luka Doncic trade, and was injured at the time of his deal. Kleber was recovering from surgery to repair a fracture in his foot and didn’t play at all for LA in the regular season. He ended up suiting up for a total of five minutes in the Lakers’ Game 5 loss in the playoffs to the Minnesota Timberwolves, his lone action as a Laker.
Kleber hoped to enter this season healthy, but suffered a quadriceps injury in training camp and missed a majority of the preseason.
“I was very frustrated,” Kleber said about the quad injury. “I put in a lot of work to have something happen like that. But you can’t always control everything. All I can do is put in the work and do my best. The same goes for coming back rehabbing and getting back into game shape.” Now, just hours before LA kicks off its 2025-26 campaign, the Lakers announced another injury to Kleber that will sideline him for some time.
Kleber was an option for LA’s center rotation, which features Deandre Ayton and Jaxson Hayes. However, the floor-spacing big man will now be sidelined to start the season.
Kleber is entering his ninth year in the NBA after spending his first seven-plus seasons with the Mavericks. The 6-foot-10 big man has appeared in a total of 440 games at the NBA level, averaging 6.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game while shooting 44.3 percent from the field, 35.4 percent from deep and 77.6 percent from the free throw line.
Kleber is on the final year of his three-year, $33 million deal he signed with the Mavericks.
