<\/p>\n
Warriors first-round draft pick\u00a0Yaxel Lendeborg answers questions from reporters during a news conference at Chase Center on June 26.<\/p>\n
Lea Suzuki\/S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n
Yaxel Lendeborg, seen in the NCAA Tournament championship game against\u00a0UConn on April 6 in Indianapolis, helped lead Michigan to the national title in his only season\u00a0in Ann Arbor.<\/p>\n
Abbie Parr\/Associated Press<\/p>\n
In the nine days after the Golden State Warriors<\/a> drafted him, Yaxel Lendeborg enjoyed playful social-media banter with Stephen Curry<\/a>, landed the locker next to Curry\u2019s, became enmeshed in a curious back-and-forth<\/a> with Draymond Green<\/a>, fielded feverish texts from friends about potentially playing alongside LeBron James and signed his first NBA contract.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n Now he\u2019ll actually play basketball.<\/p>\n Lendeborg\u2019s debut in a Warriors uniform offers a layer of intrigue to Friday night\u2019s California Classic summer-league doubleheader at Chase Center. Golden State meets the Los Angeles Lakers at 7:30 p.m., after Miami and San Antonio play at 5 p.m.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The Warriors\u2019 summer roster includes second-year guards Will Richard<\/a> and LJ Cryer, second-round draft choice Lajae Jones<\/a> and undrafted free agents such as Graham Ike (Gonzaga) and Nick Boyd (Wisconsin). But the headliner is Lendeborg, the No. 11 overall pick in last week\u2019s draft.<\/p>\n He arrives with sparkling credentials, after he led Michigan to the national championship and was named Big Ten player of the year. More important for the Warriors, he seems to fill a pressing need as a sizable (6-foot-9, 230 pounds), two-way wing player who can mix it up near the basket and also prosper on the perimeter.<\/p>\n San Francisco Chronicle Logo<\/p>\n Make us a Preferred Source to get more of our news when you search.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s an extreme talent,\u201d Cryer said after one practice this week. \u201cHe\u2019s bigger than what I thought after seeing him in person. He\u2019s huge. He can shoot the ball really well, he\u2019s coming in mature (at 23) and he\u2019s a grown man. I think he\u2019ll be able to impact us right away.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Cryer described one play on which Lendeborg was posting up and a defender tried to run around him and steal the ball. Lendeborg used his body to seal the player and keep him away.<\/p>\n \u201cYaxel plays big,\u201d Cryer said. \u201cIt\u2019s one thing to be big, and it\u2019s another thing to play big.\u201d<\/p>\n Malevy Leons marveled about Lendeborg\u2019s versatility. He stationed himself on the low post on one play in practice, and then on the next possession he defended the opposing team\u2019s point guard\u00a0\u2014 an uncommon combination.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a huge distinction, of course, between impressing your teammates in a summer-league practice and making an impact in regular-season games. The Warriors chose Lendeborg because they think he can help right away as they try to strengthen the group around Curry.<\/p>\n Lendeborg will probably hit bumps in the road as he makes the transition to the NBA. He recalled his move last year from Alabama-Birmingham to Michigan, where teammate Morez Johnson Jr. routinely swatted Lendeborg\u2019s shots into the third row during the early weeks of practice.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n He understands similar welcome-to-the-NBA moments could start as soon as Friday.<\/p>\n \u201cI know the first game, if I have a bad game, everybody\u2019s going to overreact \u2014 like, \u2018Oh, he sucks, what happened, why did he get drafted?\u2019\u201d Lendeborg said. \u201cI know why I\u2019m here and I know I deserve to be here.<\/p>\n \u201cOne bad game isn\u2019t going to define who I am as a person, and I just gotta go out there and keep thriving and getting better. I don\u2019t expect my first game to be a good one, I\u2019ll say that now. I\u2019ll have to adjust, figure out my reads and try to slow the game down.\u201d<\/p>\n Lendeborg has showed his engaging personality during media sessions since draft night on June 23. He talked about once being a Kyrie Irving fan, and thus hating Curry (smiling at the time) when the Warriors and Cavaliers annually met in the NBA Finals.\u00a0<\/p>\n Curry responded to Lendeborg on Instagram, welcoming him to the Bay Area and joking, \u201cI\u2019m going to work hard to be your new favorite player.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The Warriors soon placed Lendeborg\u2019s locker at Chase Center next to Curry\u2019s. Lendeborg laughed about that twist, then later quipped about hoping Curry\u2019s shooting skills rub off on him.\u00a0<\/p>\n Lendeborg\u2019s relationship with Green merits scrutiny for a different reason. Green took exception to Lendeborg<\/a> saying Green hadn\u2019t immediately responded to text messages after the draft, calling him a \u201cf\u2014ing liar.\u201d He didn\u2019t sound angry, but he also wasn\u2019t joking.<\/p>\n<\/a>
<\/a><\/p>\n