The Golden State Warriors were expected to muddle through a quiet season this year. The team was banged up heading into the fall, made no major additions over the summer, and Steph Curry, now 39, seemed poised for a transitional stretch rather than a surge. That script has been torn up by an unexpected source: rookie Yaxel Lendeborg.
Lendeborg, the No. 11 pick in the 2026 draft, arrived in San Francisco as something of an unknown. At 24, he was older than many first-year players, and questions swirled about whether his all-around skill set could translate into stardom at the NBA level. Those questions have been answered emphatically through the first weeks of the season.
The rookie is averaging 21.5 points on 50% shooting from the field and 40% from three-point range, to go with seven rebounds and 3.9 assists per game. The Warriors have won five straight games, and the team’s turnaround has coincided almost exactly with Lendeborg’s emergence.
Curry, for his part, has looked rejuvenated. He is averaging 30 points per game this season on 46.8% shooting overall and 42.9% from three, along with 4.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists. He recently passed Michael Jordan for the most 40-point games in NBA history by a player age 30 or older, logging his 45th such performance last week. Curry’s joy has been evident in his celebrations, including a lunge pose after a three-pointer during a 44-point outburst against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Oct. 28, and an Edvard Munch-style celebration after a shot against the Los Angeles Lakers on Oct. 30 that came moments after he knocked Luka Doncic off balance with a jab step.
Asked after a 34-point performance against the Phoenix Suns on Monday what had changed for the Warriors this season, Curry didn’t hesitate.
“I mean, Yax,” Curry said, smiling.
Curry and Lendeborg now form the NBA’s second-highest scoring duo at 51.5 combined points per game, trailing only Dallas’s Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves at 61.8. Their production has been especially valuable given the Warriors’ depleted roster, with Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody sidelined for the first few months of the season and Kristaps Porzingis out indefinitely.
Lendeborg has also shown he isn’t shy about speaking his mind. He drew attention recently for saying he lost all respect for Doncic after trash talk during the season opener. Rather than distance themselves from the comment, Curry, Draymond Green and coach Steve Kerr publicly backed their rookie teammate.
That support appears to have helped Lendeborg settle into the organization quickly. With Green as a veteran presence known for his own outspokenness, and a franchise built around a win-now mentality that needs immediate contributions from its young talent, Lendeborg has found an environment suited to his game and personality — and the Warriors, in turn, have found the boost they badly needed.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login