Why does everyone pronounce his name “Kleeba?” I’m married to a German and it’s “Kleeber.” There is no silent “r” in German.
Actually, there is. It's just not completely silent. For example - thete's practically no "r" in the pronounciation of "wir" (German "us"). Which isn't to say the Americans are pronouncing foreign players' names correctly (Kleber included). On a siide note, Polish sports sites tend to make tons of mistakes in the names of even the most famous BB players for some reason. My faborite example - Janis Antetokumpo. It was in an article theoretically strictly NBA related, written by a local "expert" on the subject. Back to Maxi - good game, I wish he played like this more often.
Looks like a phonetic spelling of his name. That's how they would write it in Serbia, for example. Here: Here is an article where they not only spell it "Janis Antetokumpo" -- they also spell the name of his team as "Milvoki Baks," (or "Njujork Niks") because that is how it's actually pronounced. https://sportklub.n1info.rs/kosarka/nba/janis-antetokumpo-milvoki-baksi-serija-poraza-2025-26/ To be fair, Giannis's name is actually spelled Γιάννης Αντετοκούνμπο, so you can transliterate it any way you want, including Janis Antetokumpo or Јанис Антетокунмпо.
He was excellent against Philly. Great way of thanking the organization for not trading him. Pathetic that he outworked, outhustled and outplayed DA. He fought damn hard for those offensive rebounds or taps to secure the possession. Great screens, especially the Gortat screens that opened up a path to the basket. Real shame that injuries have stripped all of his offense. If he could still do what he was capable of 4 seasons ago, he'd be our starting center.
I assumed that’s just how our American announcers say it as a middle ground, since they wouldn’t be doing the German accent every time. Like I assumed it’s not a silent r, or a hard r, but the one that’s sort of like rolling the back of the tongue in the German/French way, the way I have no idea how to type out here haha. But yeah, he was great last game, hustle, defense, and that soaring dunk.
