JJ Redick’s celebratory message to Maxi Kleber following injury news

LOS ANGELES – Before Los Angeles LakersThe 2025-26 season started on Tuesday, the team was hit with an injury. That backup big man has been announced Maxi Kleber suffered an oblique injury and he would be on the sidelines at least for the next two weeks.

Maxi Kleber joined the Lakers as part of Luka Doncic last season, but was unable to make an impact mostly due to injury issues. Before the Lakers’ first game against the Golden State Warriors, the head coach JJ Redick gave a candid look at Kleber’s run of bad luck since joining the team.

“Maxi, he’s a pro. He’s just a great teammate and a hard worker. I feel bad for him…I feel really bad for him right now,” Redick said. “He was complaining to me yesterday, he said, ‘I’m doing everything right. I’m taking care of myself, I’m sleeping, I’m putting the right things in my body, I’m working out, I’m training,’ and he’s just been hit a little bit by the injury bug here the last two seasons.”

“I really feel for him,” Redick continued. “I’m thankful this is a short-term thing, but I know in a few weeks he’ll be in a position to help this basketball team.”

Kleber has yet to make a regular season appearance with the Lakers since the trade. When he arrived last season, he was still recovering from a foot injury. He returned to the court during Game 5 of the Lakers’ first-round playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He finished that game with two points in five minutes as the Lakers were eliminated.

During training camp, Kleber suffered a quad injury that limited him to just one pre-season game. In that game, he had three points and two rebounds in just over ten minutes.

Before his recent injury, Kleber was one of the best players in the NBA with the Mavericks. He played a key role in the Mavericks’ run to the 2024 NBA Finals, appearing in 13 playoff games in just over 16 minutes and shooting 42.9 percent from three-point range on just two attempts per game.

For his career, Kleber is shooting 35.4 percent from three-point range. He has a unique skill set for the Lakers in that he is the only big on the roster who can consistently shoot from the three-point line.

Even before the recent setback, Deandre Ayton and Jackson Hayes seemed locked in as the center of the Lakers’ rotation, but JJ Redick made it clear that if and when Kleber is healthy, he’ll get a chance to help the team.