Dubs' Lendeborg 'used to hate Steph' as Kyrie fan

SAN FRANCISCO -- Michigan wing Yaxel Lendeborg was 13 years old in 2016, another teenage NBA fan debating his friends about his favorite side of the increasingly contentious rivalry between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors. "I'm a big Kyrie [Irving] guy," Lendeborg said. "So I used to hate Steph Curry." Lendeborg made this admission a decade later on a podium in Brooklyn, wearing a Warriors hat after the organization selected him No. 11 in the NBA draft and made him Curry's newest teammate. He called it a "full circle" moment. "Now that I'm actually going to be able to be on the same team with him, play and actually learn so much from him, it means a lot," Lendeborg said. "He's a very great guy, genuine person. It's going to be an honor to be able to watch what he does in person." Lendeborg met Curry when he attended the play-in game between the Warriors and LA Clippers in April and said he had a conversation with Curry during his in-person workout with the Warriors last week. He also expressed a level of excitement about playing in the frontcourt next to Draymond Green, but also tossed a little dig at another of his new veteran teammates. "I know he's a Michigan State guy," Lendeborg said. "I'm really not too fond of that. But I'm definitely excited to be able to meet him and speak to him in person and learn. Just learn everything I can." General manager Mike Dunleavy said the Warriors started taking Lendeborg more serious as an option with the 11th pick after a conversation at the combine in Chicago in May, saying that Lendeborg showed an increased level of maturity from his 2025 predraft interviews. Lendeborg dipped his toes in the draft waters last summer but opted to return to school and transfer from UAB to Michigan, where he averaged 15.1 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 3.3 assists while shooting nearly 59% from the field, won Big Ten Player of the Year and led the Wolverines to the national championship. Yaxel Lendeborg met Stephen Curry when he attended the play-in game between the Warriors and Clippers in April. "He's a very great guy, genuine person," Lendeborg said Tuesday. "It's going to be an honor to be able to watch what he does in person." Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty ImagesIn the process, Lendeborg rose from a fringe first-round projection into a lottery prospect, despite the fact that he will turn 24 before playing his first NBA game. That advanced age was a factor in the Warriors' process but didn't dissuade Dunleavy from selecting him with the highest pick of his tenure. "He's, what, 23, almost 24?" Dunleavy said. "I'm not worried because he's not 38." The core of the Warriors is both older and injured. Curry is 38. Green is 36. Al Horford, likely to return, is 40. Jimmy Butler is rehabbing a torn ACL. Moses Moody is rehabbing a ruptured patellar tendon. Both are expected to sit out a large chunk of next season. That reality cracks open the door for anybody the Warriors would've selected at No. 11 to grab an immediate role. But it was also part of their reasoning in landing on Lendeborg, who is considered an NBA-ready plug-and-play frontcourt rotation option for a team that desperately needs immediate production. "The passing of the ball," Dunleavy said. "The defensive stuff, whether it's on the ball or off the ball. [He] connects some lineups with his size. ... He can play inside. He can play outside. So it probably makes our job in free agency a little easier." The Warriors also targeted Arizona guard Brayden Burries, team sources said, entering the draft with skepticism that he'd fall to the 11th spot until the first nine teams passed on him, generating optimism in the draft room. But the Milwaukee Bucks drafted Burries at No. 10 and the Warriors, on the clock for the next pick, started fielding calls from rival teams interested in trading up into their slot. At that exact moment, ESPN cameras went live and caught Dunleavy in an animated discussion with controlling owner Joe Lacob about the impending decision. "We got into it about best golf course in San Francisco," Dunleavy said. "He didn't agree with me." Dunleavy then acknowledged that the conversation had more to do with the trade options on the table and Lacob's anxiousness about finalizing the pick. "Ultimately we were all in agreement to land on taking Yaxel," Dunleavy said.

Dubs' Lendeborg 'used to hate Steph' as Kyrie fan

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