Yaxel Lendeborg put up a perfect shooting line in his first game as a Golden State Warrior. He went 6-for-6 from the floor and 4-for-4 from three-point range. He scored 19 points, dished six assists, and grabbed five rebounds. The Warriors beat the Los Angeles Lakers 104-72 in Salt Lake City.
So you’d think the kid would be pretty happy with himself, right?
Not really. Lendeborg graded his performance a B.
“I messed up a lot of defensive rotations,” Lendeborg said after the game, via NBC Sports Bay Area’s Dalton Johnson. “That’s kind of taken a while for me to get the rotations down. I played a fairly well game until the fourth quarter. Kind of went a little sloppy with four turnovers.”
He’s not wrong. Lendeborg had four turnovers, and he admitted his defense in the fourth quarter got a little loose. But the rest of the stat sheet was pristine. He led six Warriors in double figures. Will Richard added 16 points. Malevy Leons, LJ Cryer, and Chance McMillan each scored 12.
The LeBron James Question Already Came Up
One reporter at the game got a little carried away. CBS Sports Bay Area’s Matt Lively watched maybe five minutes of Lendeborg and decided the Warriors were set.
“I’ve watched about 5 minutes of Yaxel,” Lively said. “The Warriors don’t need LeBron.”
That’s a joke. Probably. But it’s the kind of thing that happens when a rookie comes out hot in summer league and people want to create a narrative. The Warriors have been linked to LeBron James in rumors for years, but nothing has ever materialized. Lendeborg isn’t replacing LeBron James. He’s trying to earn a roster spot.
Still, a perfect shooting debut is a perfect shooting debut. Lendeborg played 22 minutes. He was efficient. He moved the ball. He found his spots offensively. His self-criticism on defense is the kind of thing coaches notice. He knows he has work to do, and he said it out loud.
“Overall, offensively, I think I was in the right spot, moving the ball well and just finding out where to be,” Lendeborg said.
The Warriors have a history of turning undrafted or overlooked rookies into rotation players. Lendeborg isn’t a lottery pick. He’s got a long way to go. But he showed up, shot the lights out, and then told everyone he could be better. That’s a good start.
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