Maxi Kleber: ‘It’s crazy to watch the talent’ of Doncic, Irving

It’s certainly not unusual for an NBA player to be a big fan of one or two of his teammates. Like regular fans, they can be blown away by some of the incredible things their teammates can accomplish on the basketball court.

Such is the case with Dallas Mavericks center/forward Maxi Kleber. If he wasn’t a teammate of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, Kleber would purchase a courtside seat just to watch them play.

Kleber has had a front row view for over five years watching Doncic spin his magic on NBA courts. And since the Mavs negotiated a blockbuster trade with Brooklyn on Feb. 6 that brought Irving to Dallas, Kleber has been in basketball heaven watching the two stars make it look like child’s play.

“A couple of times when you watch it, especially when you’re on the bench and have a little more time to observe it, it’s crazy to watch the talent that both of those guys have and the capability of creating shots and finding others,” Kleber said. “It’s just a lot of fun to watch, and obviously fun to participate in.”

In Thursday’s game against Philadelphia, Kleber watched Doncic torch the Sixers for 42 points on 13-of-22 shots. Irving poured in 40 points on 15-of-22 shots.

For Kleber, those sterling performances was akin to watching a video game.

“I’ve been watching Luka up close now for the last five-and-a-half years, and now Kyrie since the trade,” he said. “And the way they just are able to finish, it seems unreal.

“Even (Thursday), there was this one play where Kyrie split the defense and then had a tough layup. I don’t know how he does it.”

Kleber was referring to a play when Irving darted between perennial All-Stars Joel Embiid and James Harden, then skied and met Garland’s Tyrese Maxey right at rim, and pump-faked and scored over him. That eye-popping move brought the American Airlines Center fans to their collective feet.

Kleber, himself, also has been bringing the crowd to its feet lately. After missing 35 games with a right hamstring tear, the six-year veteran returned Tuesday – to a standing ovation – and collected nine points in 24 minutes during the 124-122 loss to the Indiana Pacers.

And in the 133-126 win against the Sixers, Kleber added nine points, six rebounds and three assists in just 20 minutes while the fans roared their approval.

“Obviously, it’s amazing,” Kleber said of the applause he received when entering the last two games. “It means a lot to me.

“I feel like home here. People, fans, the club, everybody here just treats me well, so obviously it means a lot.”

Coach Jason Kidd said Kleber means a lot to the Mavs. He added that they missed the interior defense, the three-point shooting and the intangibles Kleber always gave the Mavs.

“The beauty of that is we got to see him a little bit before the crowd did for the two games (he played in this week),” Kidd said. “Everybody was excited when he started to get cleared to be able to play five-on-five.

“Just his IQ and his ability to stretch the defense, and defensively just covering up and being able to guard in the post or if someone gets beat, be in there to help (is a plus). The guys are really happy that he’s back.”

Likewise, Kleber is really happy to be back in the fold. And he has one strong message from trying to stay in shape after not playing since Dec. 12.

“I definitely learned from this that you can’t imitate game shape,” Kleber said while smiling. “I’m a little bit tired out there (and) slow, too. But it just was a good experience for me, too, to see what we can do better, the way you can see misunderstandings on the court and the way we just have to trust the coaching staff.

“Because they have a scheme, they play out the whole script for the game and we just got to do a better job as players to just stick with it, because if you know that you have your guy in the back trusting you, then you have the next guy trusting you. But that’s just something that I was observing a lot.”

Two games into his return to the court, Kleber said he’s feeling good.

“(There’s) a little bit of pain here and there, but nothing concerning with the hamstring,” he said. “So that’s good.”

What’s also good is that the Mavs converted a franchise-tying 25 three-pointers and shot 54.9 percent from the field against the Sixers. That obviously was in large part due to the heavy lifting from Doncic and Irving.

“If we always score like that, obviously (we’ll be) really good,” Kleber said. “But we’ve got to do a lot of clean up on the defensive end — just get stops – because we know now with Kyrie and Luka, we have a lot of scoring power. But we just have to get stops, too.”

IRVING AND MAVS FACE DURANT AND SUNS: Less than a month ago, Irving and Kevin Durant were teammates with the Brooklyn Nets.

But on Feb. 6, the Mavs acquired Irving in a trade with the Nets. Three days later, the Phoenix Suns got Durant in a trade with the Nets.

On Sunday at noon at American Airlines Center, Irving and the Mavs will play host to Durant and the Suns in a game that promises to have all the entertainment value any NBA fan could hope for because of all the star power on the court.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Irving said. “Playing against the new-look Suns with KD, I think it’ll be an exciting time just for us to compete again – against each other.

“It’s my brother for life. But when we’re stepping out there, I’m looking forward to the competition — the friendly competition.”

Twitter: @DwainPrice