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Yaxel Lendeborg has impressed the Golden State Warriors since being taken with the 11th overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. The forward led the Summer League team to a championship in Las Vegas, displaying the size, length, and strength the Warriors coveted. He has also drawn praise from teammates in training camp and actively absorbed feedback from veterans and coaches. In short, Lendeborg has met nearly every expectation placed on a lottery pick who carries the weight of the franchise's post-Stephen Curry future.
Now, with Lendeborg set to make his official rookie debut in the season opener against the Los Angeles Lakers, the 24-year-old forward from Michigan—who led the Wolverines to a national title this past year—is about to face the challenge of the NBA, the highest level of competition.
Head coach Steve Kerr believes Lendeborg is more than ready for that challenge. "He's ready to play and contribute and be one of our best players," Kerr said after Tuesday's practice. "It's obvious, and I know he's a great young guy—really coachable, wants to win, has already won at a really high level at Michigan, so he knows what it takes and what winning means. And so, he's done everything right, but he's got a lot of growing pains ahead, and we've got to help him work through that."
When asked if he had any rookie memories that could help Lendeborg navigate his first year, Kerr smiled and shook his head. "Not me personally. He's in an entirely different class," Kerr joked. "I think I was suffering from Achilles tendonitis the first two weeks of the season. The old days when we felt very comfortable lying about players' health. I was on the five-game injury list with Achilles tendonitis. I don't remember which foot it was, but so my debut came probably 20 games into the season, and down 30, I made a huge three to cut it to 27."
That triple was Kerr's only basket in his NBA debut, as he and the 1988 Phoenix Suns fell 115-97 to the Portland Trail Blazers. Not exactly a game from which Kerr could easily extract a lesson for Lendeborg.
But a rookie story that did come to Kerr's mind was Magic Johnson's famous debut, when he jumped into Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's arms after the Captain won the game at the buzzer. "He throws it to Kareem for a sky hook. They win it at the buzzer, and Magic jumps into Kareem's arms like they just won the NBA title. And Kareem's like, 'What are you doing?' And I think he actually said, '81 more.' I think that's a great story because for Yaxel, no matter what happens, good or bad, this is the beginning of the climb," Kerr said. "And I'm really confident in him, and I know he's very confident in himself. But he's going to learn some lessons. We got Luka. He may be guarding Luka. There are some tricks that he's going to have to get used to: Austin Reaves, some great players who have been around for a long time. And as a rookie, there's an indoctrination that has to happen, and he's going to go through that. But he's really talented and a great kid, and excited for everything that's ahead of him in the next 12, 14 years, however long he plays."
De'Anthony Melton's Rookie Memories
Kerr's belief in Lendeborg extends to the rookie's teammates, who have all been impressed with his play throughout training camp. Veteran guard De'Anthony Melton has been struck by how introspective the rookie has been about himself and what he faces this year.
"Yaxel is pretty self-aware in terms of (the difficulty of the regular season)," Melton said. "I think also Yaxel has a winning culture within himself, not just where he came from, but just who he is, wanting to compete, and I think he has so much fun playing and being around basketball and doing all this stuff that involves basketball that like I think he'll be ready for a lot of moments, no matter what. And I think that's to the why of who he is and why he got picked."
It helps that Lendeborg has been attentive to his rookie duties so far, but the Warriors veterans seem to have a genuine affection for the kid. Draymond Green, who can often be seen jawing and joking with Lendeborg in the locker room like an older brother, went so far as to call him the future face of the franchise.
As for whether Melton has any memories of his own rookie season that come to mind ahead of Lendeborg's debut, Melton laughed and detailed how, similarly to Kerr, it took a minute before he actually got some run on the court. "My debut? I mean, I was in a suit and tie my first 25 games, you know what I mean?" Melton said, grinning. "So I ain't had no rookie debut until the second month of the season, almost third month, you know what I mean. So, it was just surreal. Like, you know, as a rookie, you know, once the ball kind of tips up, you kind of like, oh snap! Like, you know what I mean? You can kind of feel like the intensity is different too. I think that's what we're telling Yax during the season. Like during the preseason, it's preseason. Still, at the same time, you should be playing hard for sure, but other guys may not be playing as hard as that. But once regular season rolls around, you might see a different version of some dudes because now it counts, numbers count, all that stuff matters. So, but I think Yax has all that stuff under control, and I think we do too."
It'll be far from a perfect season for Lendeborg, but given how much the team around him believes in him and continues to pour into him, it might not be that big of a surprise when he starts to show why Golden State entrusted their future with him.
Originally reported by yahoo.