Luka Doncic is known to be a prankster, and he was back at it during the Los Angeles Lakers‘ 123-115 win over the Portland Trail Blazers at the Moda Center on Monday. Doncic missed the clash due to injury management and decided to prank Maxi Kleber, who was sitting near him on the Lakers’ bench.
Doncic hilariously hit Kleber on the head with a rolled-up piece of paper and then proceeded to drop it on Jaxson Hayes‘ lap.
Luka pranking Maxi Kleber on the bench last night 😂
(via misidelineviews/TT) pic.twitter.com/4SD0EoSZE7
— Lakers All Day Everyday (@LADEig) November 4, 2025
Doncic was looking to place the blame on Hayes, who appeared to be telling Kleber he didn’t do it. The big man returned the paper to the Slovenian, who hilariously continued to act oblivious.
You’d imagine Kleber would have realized that Doncic was behind the act. He’s been teammates with the five-time All-Star longer than anyone else in the NBA.
Kleber was on the Dallas Mavericks when Doncic arrived in 2018. They were then traded together to the Lakers in February 2025, but one has seen the court far more often than the other.
Doncic shone from the get-go for the Lakers and has been on a tear in this 2025-26 season. The 26-year-old is averaging 41.3 points, 11.5 rebounds, 8.3 assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game in the campaign.
Kleber had stated that we would see Luka Magic this season, and we have indeed. What we haven’t seen, though, is the German himself.
Kleber’s time with the Lakers can be summed up by one word: injury. The 33-year-old was recovering from right foot surgery when he arrived in February, and only made his debut in Game 5 of the first-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Timberwolves beat the Lakers that night to knock them out of the playoffs, so Kleber played only one game for the team last season. He’d have hoped that the injury bug would stay away in 2025-26, but it hasn’t been the case so far.
Kleber suffered a quad injury early on in training camp and missed much of the Lakers’ preseason. He did suit up in the final preseason game against the Sacramento Kings, and so you thought he was all set to make his regular-season debut for the team in the season opener.
Unfortunately, Kleber suffered an oblique strain before the opener against the Golden State Warriors, and the Lakers stated he would be re-evaluated in two weeks. It’s unclear when we’ll see him in action.
The 6-2 Lakers have released their injury report for Wednesday’s game against the 5-1 San Antonio Spurs, and Kleber will not be featuring in that heavyweight clash. Doncic will be back, though, and it will be interesting to see if Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs can slow him down.
Wembanyama, who is the clear favorite for DPOY, was full of praise for Doncic ahead of the clash. The Frenchman is 0-4 against the Slovenian in the NBA and will be looking to end his winless run when they face off at Crypto.com Arena.
