Warriors fans are losing their collective minds over Yaxel Lendeborg, who continued his one-day streak Sunday in leading Golden State to a win over the Clippers without Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. It was an absolutely incredible performance: 37 points in 34 minutes on 68% shooting, in six 3-pointers.
The rookie has six assists. He used to toss and steal four tables for fun. What this guy has done in his first two NBA weeks is almost incomprehensible. We are talking about the only rookie in NBA history than Larry Bird to score at least 100 points, 40 rebounds and 20 assists through the first five games.
It was the lone stinker of his sixth career game. Luka Dončić gave him a own hazing. But Lendeborg brought back the horse on Sunday to become the fourth rookie in history to go after 37 and five-in-one with a wild 85% shooting percentage. Those 37 points are the most scored in one game by a Warriors rookie since Curry had 42 in 2010, and Lendeborg now ranks as the Warriors’ third rookie to average just north of 20 PPG (22.3) over the first seven games of his career. The other two are Wilt Chamberlain and Rick Barry. Not bad company.
“That was a huge letdown last game,” Lendeborg said of putting his foot in the mouth against the Lakers in his postgame interview. “I just try not to letdown again honestly. I know that I have my confidence no matter what is going on, good or bad game. And I just start playing with the joy that I played with the last six years of college and now here. So I am continuous to try to play with a smile on my face
Joy is less This dude got flying in Dub Nation. When I was growing up, there was a great song by Garth Brooks called “Unanswered Prayers”, and I thought about Sunday as I saw Yaxel burying shot after shot from every spot and in every possible way, because I will say this: a lot of Warriors fans thank the basketball gods that their pissed-off prayers for this summer’s trade in No. 11.
I mean, look at this guy, in his second week as a pro, chewing on clippers like a total 1A alpha.
“He’s playing this way and he still doesn’t really know the NBA game,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after Sunday’s game. “The game is still really fast for him, but he’s so skilled and so talented that he can make all kinds of plays out there. It’s amazing to have an impact in these games in the first couple of weeks of the season.”
Watch the actual reel. This is a rookie doing all these things. Scoring one-on-one. Bullying the defenders paint. As they went by they dropped. Two and a protein. He runs the ground like a Hummer. With Curry’s hand, Lendeborg served as Golden State’s point guard, which he said he “always wanted to be.” As a veteran, his possessions have softened. Running a pick-and-roll as both a handler and a screener. All while he committed only two turnovers, which, while others in the NBA had a nearly perfect first impression, registered a slight hiccup.
It’s like shooting. Specifically, the draw up from 3. This is one for a guy who is a size threat spot, but this drop, in Kerr’s words, “changes everything” in terms of Yaxel’s power.
“We know he’s a good shooter,” Kerr said. “When he comes to work, you could see the skills to put him on the floor and pull and shoot, but I didn’t expect what I saw tonight.”
Frankly, you can remove “night” from that answer. Anyone who says they expected anything close to what we’ve seen from Lendeborg at any point over these first seven games is a stone-cold liar. This old dude’s life, failing the team, left everyone for dead this summer, and certainly after an 0-3 year. The power behind four straight wins cannot be denied. And now you have to wonder if the Warriors’ front office is considering a trade deal rather than waiting for the cap space to open up this summer.
Because the simple truth is that Curry remains the best player in the world on any given night. Maybe that fact alone wasn’t enough to justify stepping on the pedal this season before Yaxel emerged as a total beast, but now that they have, and with Jimmy Butler set to return sometime after his first year, this is a team that can compete with another team. They have the contracts of Draymond Green and Kristaps Porzingis. They have a draft head. They have Butler on his expiring deal if they want to go that route. The only question is, do they have the nerve?