Clippers rookie Yanic Konan Niederhauser showing

LAS VEGAS — Yanic Konan Niederhauser obtained the go close to the half-court line from a Clippers teammate who had just stolen the basketball. The 6-foot-11 heart maneuvered down the court, his long strides permitting him to use just two dribbles before he took flight outdoors the circle and threw down a thunderous dunk over helpless Lakers defender Cole Swider.

The crowd inside Thomas & Mack Center went into a frenzy, including Clippers proprietor Steve Ballmer, who leaped out of his courtside seat, pumped his fists and yelled.

At that second Monday night time, Niederhauser displayed his agility, velocity and ballhandling expertise. It was one other step taken in his progress while enjoying in the NBA Summer League on the campus of UNLV.

The Clippers had used the thirtieth and final decide in the first spherical of the NBA draft to choose Niederhauser out of Penn State because they noticed potential.

That thrilling, and in some ways sudden, play was an encouraging signal for the Clippers.

“I didn’t see Mr. Ballmer because I was in the moment,” Niederhauser, laughing, mentioned late Monday night time. “That’s the guard skills I was talking about and I had a couple of fast breaks these last few days and I passed the ball away. Now I said, ‘Naw, man. I can go up by myself.’ I told myself I was going to dunk it and I did.”

In his first three video games in the NBA Summer League, Niederhauser has proven completely different expertise.

It was his protection and rebounding in the first sport, against the Houston Rockets in which he blocked 4 photographs and collected 10 rebounds. Though he missed all 4 of his photographs and scored just one level, Niederhauser discovered different methods to contribute.

It was a little bit of all the things in his second sport, against the Milwaukee Bucks in which he had two factors, three rebounds, two steals and one block.

It was his offense in the third sport against the Lakers in which he scored 10 factors, grabbed two rebounds and had two steals.

“He just sticks with it,” Clippers assistant and Summer League coach Jeremy Castleberry mentioned. “No matter if it’s going good or bad, he sticks with it. He’s trying his best to do everything we ask him to do. And just like I said after the last game, he continues to get better. From the last game [against the Bucks] to this game [against the Lakers], he was a little bit better than he was last game. He’s getting the dunks, catching the basketball, finishing it, being a rim-protector, consistently running the floor. Like, you can see the progress.”

Niederhauser was born in Bern, Switzerland, a city of about 135,000 an hour from Zurich. Even so, at 15, the Clippers’ worldwide scouts turned conscious of Niederhauser when he performed on the under-16 Switzerland national workforce. At that time, he was a 6-1 guard.

Niederhauser had a growth spurt at 17 that pushed him into enjoying heart place. He mentioned he was 6-5 when he broke his knee and was pressured to sit out for a 12 months.

“I was like out for a whole year and once I came back, after a whole year of sitting out and I get back on the court, now I’m 6-11,” he mentioned. “Yeah, in one year, I had to change my whole game from being like a forward/guard to being a center. So, yeah, I had guard skills. That’s why sometimes I be dribbling the ball.”

Niederhauser laughed, agreeing those guard expertise helped him make that electric dunk against the Lakers.

His measurement, weight (242 kilos) and youth (22) are all half of the bundle the Clippers like.

“We think there’s plenty of upside,” Clippers normal supervisor Trent Redden mentioned. “You know, the famous draft word, obviously. But for a guy that’s his age, he’s still learning and growing into his frame that he hasn’t really had his whole life. We just haven’t had a guy that size at that position in a backup role that’s young that we can feed into and give to our developmental staff.”

As a child growing up in Switzerland, Niederhauser realized to converse 4 languages — Swiss, German, French and English.

His mother and father, Dominique and Nadege Niederhauser, made sure their son was well-versed.

“Since I was a baby, I was speaking all those languages,” Niederhauser mentioned. “My mom, she speaks French. She’s from the Ivory Coast and that’s where I learned French, and my dad speaks mostly German and so that’s how I learned my German.”

Now that Niederhauser is with the Clippers, he’ll have tutors to educate how the NBA sport is performed.

He will likely be in a position to study from facilities Ivica Zubac and Brook Lopez.

Lopez is 37 and a 17-year veteran who signed with the Clippers this summer season.

He talked about how he performed with great gamers like Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Now it’s up to him to go on information to Niederhauser like others handed on to him.

“I’m absolutely ready to get on the court, help him out and help him adjust and become a great player in this league,” Lopez mentioned.

Niederhauser is soaking it all in while in Las Vegas, from the video games to the practices to the conversations he’s had with Clippers coach Tyronn Lue.

“He’s been giving me advice. I can just tell that he has a lot of knowledge,” Niederhauser mentioned. “I’m loving this. I’m in a great situation with experienced players to learn from. I’m just taking time to learn and get my experience. Everything is new to me so I’m just trying my best to soak everything in and just get better every day.”