The Swiss rookie reveals the 24/7 commitment required to survive in the NBA landscape.
Los Angeles Clippers rookie center Yanic Konan Niederhauser is starting to turn heads in his first NBA season, but the 22-year-old from Switzerland wants people to know that life in the league is not all highlights and alley-oops.
During All-Star Weekend at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, he gave an honest answer when asked about the toughest part of being a professional basketball player.
"The hardest part is that it's a 24/7 job...we work all the time man, even if practice is done, you gotta go back home, you gotta eat, you gotta recover, you gotta go to sleep early...you don't really get no break," Konan Niederhauser said.
The Grind Behind the Game
It is the kind of quote that gives fans a look behind the curtain at what it really takes to stick in the NBA, because while most people see the games and the dunks, they do not always see the work that goes into getting ready for every single one of them.
For a rookie like Konan Niederhauser, who is still trying to carve out a role on a team full of veterans, every hour of recovery and preparation matters.
Konan Niederhauser has appeared in 34 games this season for the Clippers and is averaging 3.7 points and 2.3 rebounds in just 9.0 minutes per game while shooting 67.6 percent from the field.
But his numbers look way better when he gets real playing time because in four games where he played at least 20 minutes, he has averaged 12.0 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks, showing the kind of two-way potential that made him the 30th overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft out of Penn State.
Rising Stars Spotlight
The All-Star Weekend stage gave Konan Niederhauser a chance to show what he can do in front of the home crowd.
He did not waste it, suiting up for Team Austin in the Rising Stars event on Friday night and leading all players in scoring with 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting in about 10 minutes of action.
He also added two rebounds, one assist, and one block in Team Austin's 40-34 semifinal loss to Team Melo.
He even knocked down a three-pointer during the game, which is something he has not done yet in a regular-season game with the Clippers, and the performance came at the right time for Konan Niederhauser, who has seen his role grow since the team traded Ivica Zubac to the Indiana Pacers at the deadline on February 5, leaving the center rotation to Brook Lopez and the Swiss rookie.
What Comes Next for the Clippers
The Clippers head into the second half of the season sitting at 26-28, which puts them right in the middle of the Western Conference play-in race.
With Kawhi Leonard averaging 27.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game this year and looking like one of the best players in the league again, Los Angeles has the star power to make a push.
The front office signaled at the deadline that they are building for the future around Leonard while getting younger.
Konan Niederhauser fits right into that picture, especially when you look at his G League numbers with the San Diego Clippers, where he averaged 14.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks per game across eight games this season.
If Konan Niederhauser can keep developing and handle the grind he talked about at All-Star Weekend, then the Clippers might have found themselves a long-term piece at center with the last pick of the first round.