In the summer of 2011, a wide-eyed, tall, lanky German kid stood amongst several thousand of his countrymen and celebrated the Dallas Mavericks NBA title as hometown hero Dirk Nowitzki sang from the balcony of the Wurzburg Residence Palace.
“I get goosebumps thinking about it right now,” Maxi Kleber said. “What are the chances?”
From a victory parade in the town square to now residing five lockers over from Nowitzki as a rotating starter for the Mavericks, the probability was and is astronomical.
Kleber, a 6-foot-11 forward from Wurzburg, Germany, has defied all the odds and according to the hometown hero, it isn’t by accident.