Yanic Konan Niederhauser received the pass near the half-court line from a Clippers teammate who had just stolen the basketball. The 6-foot-11 center maneuvered down the court, his long strides allowing him to use just two dribbles before he took flight outside 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 owner Steve Ballmer, who leaped out of his courtside seat, pumped his fists and yelled.
At that moment Monday night, Niederhauser displayed his agility, speed and ballhandling skills. It was another step taken in his progress while playing in the NBA Summer League on the campus of UNLV.
The Clippers had used the 30th and last pick in the first round of the NBA draft to select Niederhauser out of Penn State because they saw potential.
That exciting, and in many ways unexpected, play was an encouraging sign for the Clippers.
“I didn’t see Mr. Ballmer because I was in the moment,” Niederhauser, laughing, said late Monday night. “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.”
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In his first three games in the NBA Summer League, Niederhauser has shown different skills.
It was his defense and rebounding in the first game, against the Houston Rockets in which he blocked four shots and collected 10 rebounds. Though he missed all four of his shots and scored just one point, Niederhauser found other ways to contribute.
It was a little bit of everything in his second game, against the Milwaukee Bucks in which he had two points, three rebounds, two steals and one block.
It was his offense in the third game against the Lakers in which he scored 10 points, grabbed two rebounds and had two steals.
“He just sticks with it,” Clippers assistant and Summer League coach Jeremy Castleberry said. “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 town of about 135,000 an hour from Zurich. Even so, at 15, the Clippers’ international scouts became aware of Niederhauser when he played on the under-16 Switzerland national team. At that time, he was a 6-1 guard.
Niederhauser had a growth spurt at 17 that pushed him into playing center position. He said he was 6-5 when he broke his knee and was forced to sit out for a year.
“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 said. “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 skills helped him make that electric dunk against the Lakers.
His size, weight (242 pounds) and youth (22) are all part of the package the Clippers like.
“We think there’s plenty of upside,” Clippers general manager Trent Redden said. “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 kid growing up in Switzerland, Niederhauser learned to speak four languages — Swiss, German, French and English.
His parents, Dominique and Nadege Niederhauser, made sure their son was well-versed.
“Since I was a baby, I was speaking all those languages,” Niederhauser said. “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 teach how the NBA game is played.
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He will be able to learn from centers Ivica Zubac and Brook Lopez.
Lopez is 37 and a 17-year veteran who signed with the Clippers this summer.
He mentioned how he played with great players like Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Now it’s up to him to pass on knowledge to Niederhauser like others passed 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 said.
Niederhauser is soaking it all in while in Las Vegas, from the 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 said. “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.”
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
