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It was all sunshine and rainbows in Los Angeles as the Lakers hosted the New Orleans Pelicans at Crypto.com Arena, looking to pick up their 15th win of the season. And the odds were stacked heavily in their favor. The Pelicans came in missing seven players, including stars like Zion Williamson, Trey Murphy III, Jordan Poole, and Herb Jones. As you’d expect, the Lakers — even without LeBron James — controlled the game from start to finish and had plenty of laughs and fun moments along the way. One such moment was caught on camera when Maxi Kleber, the German power forward, ended up blocking his own shot. With about 1:47 left in the third quarter, Kleber drove to the rim but somehow pushed the ball out of the basket instead of finishing the play — turning what could’ve been an easy three-point play into a two-point play after a foul was called on the Pelicans. (This is a developing news…) 

Maxi Kleber's drive to the paint has LeBron James cracking up as the Lakers dominate the Pelicans. Here's why.

Akash Das is an NCAA and WNBA Writer at EssentiallySports, where his bylines dive deep into the structural side of basketball. With a postgraduate diploma in Mass Communication and a Master’s in Sports Business &amp; Management from the University of Liverpool, he grounds every feature in strong reporting fundamentals and academic rigor. His coverage tracks how coaching blueprints, roster construction, and roster moves, from the NCAA transfer portal to WNBA free agency, shape outcomes on the court.  

His sharp breakdowns at the WNBA desk earned him a spot in the outlet’s prestigious Journalistic Excellence Program, putting him among ES’ most trusted voices on basketball. Beyond box scores, Akash is driven by the bigger picture: how programs are built, maintained, and rebuilt in the NCAA pipeline, and how those systems intersect with the professional game.  

With experience across sports writing, research, and media strategy, he brings nuance to topics often overlooked in day-to-day highlights coverage. Whether examining the long-term vision behind a college program or the ripple effect of player mobility in the WNBA, Akash connects fans to the tactical and structural heart of the sport.

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Cutting Edge NCAA Takes

Akash Das

NBA: Playoffs-Los Angeles Lakers at Minnesota Timberwolves

LeBron James Can’t Stop Laughing After Lakers Teammate Blocks His Own Shot
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LeBron James Can’t Stop Laughing After Lakers Teammate Blocks His Own Shot Against Pelicans

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LeBron James Can’t Stop Laughing After Lakers Teammate Blocks His Own Shot Against Pelicans - EssentiallySports

EssentiallySports is the home for the underserved fan, delivering storytelling that goes beyond the headlines. As a media platform, we combine deep audience insights with cultural trends, to meet fandom where it lives and where it goes next. Founded in 2014, EssentiallySports now engages with an audience of over 30m+ American sports fan on its website and 1m+ readers on its newsletters daily.

EssentiallySports

Akash Das is an NCAA and WNBA Writer at EssentiallySports, where his bylines dive deep into the structural side of basketball. With a postgraduate diploma in Mass Communication and a Master’s in Sports Business &amp; Management from the University of Liverpool, he grounds every feature in strong reporting fundamentals and academic rigor. His coverage tracks how coaching blueprints, roster construction, and roster moves, from the NCAA transfer portal to WNBA free agency, shape outcomes on the court. His sharp breakdowns at the WNBA desk earned him a spot in the outlet’s prestigious Journalistic Excellence Program, putting him among ES’ most trusted voices on basketball. Beyond box scores, Akash is driven by the bigger picture: how programs are built, maintained, and rebuilt in the NCAA pipeline, and how those systems intersect with the professional game. With experience across sports writing, research, and media strategy, he brings nuance to topics often overlooked in day-to-day highlights coverage. Whether examining the long-term vision behind a college program or the ripple effect of player mobility in the WNBA, Akash connects fans to the tactical and structural heart of the sport.