[Slater] Yaxel Lendeborg on his early conversations with Steve Kerr: “He doesn’t normally play rookies as much. He has a history of that. But the way the team is looking right now, I’m going to have a really good chance to play, maybe even start.”
I’m glad he’s straight up
If anyone didn’t follow Michigan, Yaxel is very very open and honest. He honestly just has absolutely no filter.
It’s usually relatively harmless, but he’s definitely going to unintentionally give opponents bulletin board material. Lol.
He got asked at halftime of the national championship how he was feeling and he said “terrible”
i remember that haha
for more context he was quite injured but still played in the finals, though he was quite limited and not able to contribute too much
UConn was also giving Michigan (who were the favorites) a pretty hard time throughout the game
“I feel awful I feel super weak right now I can’t make anything ahhhh man you know I’m tryna push through everything because you know it’s the championship game and all that but man, I’m missing plays I don’t usually miss I have many opportunities to take advantage of the smaller defender haven’t been able to do it, you know ima go in there at half do as much as I can feel a lot better and come out here more aggressive”
He’s the man
He really did say he felt like dogshit, that he wasn’t playing well, and that he needed to be better in the 2nd half. Really can’t ask for more lol
His style of speaking can come off as disrespectful and grating to some people so I’m pretty sure Draymond is going to punch him at one point during the season.
“Yeah, Draymond punched me because he’s a dirt bag from Michigan State. I think he’s just upset that he’s old and not very good anymore, so it’s ok. I’m not mad. Coach told me I’m not supposed to talk about it and that I shouldn’t break the code by saying anything to you, so I shouldn’t be saying this. Do y’all want to see the video?”
Don’t send da video
This is exactly what would happen lmao. Yax will even tell you when he’s doing the wrong thing and keep doing it.
Lolol oh shit. Made me really lol
Dray doesn’t have 80lbs on this guy so I doubt he punches him in the face
Yax is safe Dray only knows how to punch down
Idk man he nut shotted Steven Adams and chest stomped sabonis lol
And choke Gobert from behind. A lot of things could be said about Dray, but one thing for sure is he is not afraid of bigger guys.
Well he won’t fight anyone he thinks he would lose a fight to. Gobert has a reputation for being soft whether it’s fair or not, so he prob just thinks he would win that fight.
Playing dirty in game isn’t the same as actually fighting someone. They’ll break up altercations in game.
Well no one seriously fight in the league anymore. But you’ll never see Dray backing out of altercation against any bigger guys.
bruh Gobert has an 8ft wingspan. He will gomu gomu punch you from half court.
Draymond already punched one Michigan Man in the face
“Bruh, Steph carried you the whole time” then booom! The sucker was punched.
Nah Draymond will like his directness.
As a Michigan fan, he is one of the most unintelligent people on the planet but he’s honest lol
Yaxel, what do you want to be after your NBA career ends?
“Lamelos assistant president.”
Assistant TO the president
That’s really rude, on what basis?
Watch his ig lives. They’re funny asf
I’m a michigan alum and fan. I think Yax is great, I just think it’s unfair to call him one of the most unintelligent people on the planet
He flunked out of every school he’s ever been at. He kind of disproved the whole Michigan is hard to get transfers into ideology
Bro is lucky he was a grad transfer. I couldn’t transfer into Michigan as an electrical engineering undergrad with a 3.9 GPA. Mfers wouldn’t accept Calc 1 and Calc 3 credits (yet accepted Calc 2 and Differential Equations) so I couldn’t be admitted even though I aced them all… I will forever despise UofM.
I guess I should have learned to dribble a basketball and be 6’9”
That is frustrating as fuck. Sorry that happened to you.
I have a similar grudge against a grad school program that led me on for two years and kept moving the goal posts of my future.
It’s okay I ended up at Purdue thankfully but I would have had in-state tuition. Fuck Michigan.
Calc 1 and 3 at Albion or State?
Please tell me his basketball IQ is at least good.
Yeah he actually has great basketball IQ and very unselfish
He has the worst grades of any pro athlete in any of the 4 major american sports.
Tbf you could say that about any professional athlete in the world and I’d believe you. Stupid until proven not. That’s what happens when you have kids skipping classes from middle school to put balls in hoops.
Roddy Gayle jr
Not to mention Gui Santos, who performed well and earned a contract extension and gels with the warriors style of play. Ultimately Kerr will continue his ways of making rookies earn it, and it will be tough to get minutes when Jimmy Butler comes back.
he better pull a larry bird on the opponents lol…his straight forwardness will become trash talk XD
I kinda like it, just seems like he wants to ball.
Idk, got a feeling this kid is gonna be solid
Was such a joy to hear him over the past year at Michigan. Never sugar coats anything.
Me too. This team fucking sucks, why sugarcoat it
He’s gonna battle Ant for most candid and funniest guy in the league
Ant and Lamelo
Your verbal filter lives in your brain, so that is correct
Nothing lives in LaMelo’s brain. No bacteria no electricity. Just the void.
Good thing Warriors took Wiseman🔥
The Warriors were never going to draft LaMelo so it’s just a tough miss not having the balls to draft Haliburton.
Who says they were never gonna draft Lamelo? Jalen Rose who’s friends with Lamelos manager claims otherwise
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2935253-jalen-rose-warriors-told-lamelo-ball-theyd-pick-him-no-2-in-2020-nba-draft
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2914975-lamelo-ball-rumors-people-in-warriors-think-pg-is-super-talented
I simply can’t imagine Steve Kerr coaching LaMelo
Pretty sure there is something there saying pedal to the metal everytime
Nobody’s beating Lamelo for the dumbest. Ant is just unfiltered
Tyler Herro seems to be coming for the throne right now.
he could beat either of them individually but together they’ll be unstoppable
Lamelo is not funny at all. The only time he made news for non basketball stuff was his texting and driving
Really? That pretty cool to know. Nice to have younger stars with charisma
“Younger” in Yaxel’s case.
“Stars” in Yaxel’s case.
He’s only a year younger than Ant and Lamelo, lol.
They may have a lot of years in the league, but 24 is still pretty young
He’s about to turn 24; so he’s younger, but also old already
Idk why people talk like a few years really changes the trajectory of a career. If he’s NBA ready, I’d take that over someone that needs some extra time in the oven. Players go until their mid-30s, a couple years lost isn’t tragic.
A lot of it is that it’s unusual for a player to be as old as him and be drafted and turn out to be a good player. There’s limited physical development upside and star players usually get spotted and picked up in a draft well before they’re a senior.
But Yaxel’s trajectory and profile is unusual, in that he didn’t play organized ball until 17, dicked around a lot, and when he finally took basketball seriously, he rapidly improved and ended up being one of the top players in college and best player on the title team.
There’s aren’t a lot of comps to be made for old draftees like him, except Siakam and Dennis Rodman.
Siakam was in his third year in the nba by the time he was Yaxels age and won most improved player. No comparison. Rodman grew 8-10 inches after high school. No comparison. I’m not sure how much yaxel got better in his last 2 years in college.
Story is apparently he never applied himself in anything in life until he picked up basketball
Honestly it’s pretty inspiring because it’s hard to put in effort especially when you have never done it in your life before. I was impressed at how seriously he took his role at Michigan, even toughing out an injury in the national title game to lead the team.
There’s limited physical development upside an
There’s plenty of late bloomers and a lot of actual develop is skill, and mental, though physical is too, of course
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Not sure he would be best in his own draft class. He has competition in AJ, who’s the exact same way in terms of honesty, no filter, and quotable. AJ is also a walking quote machine just like Yaxel.
I feel like AJ tries a little too hard
“If we keeping it a buck, we ass”
All time quote
I love cam ward
fun fact: i love cam ward
I’ve said this in the Warriors sub. But the easiest take for the Warriors is that Yaxel will be playing 30mpg by December. He is the most Kerr player ever. Kerr will absolutely love him and will have a hard time keeping him off the floor.
He’ll probably be used similarly to the way Iggy was used basically a versatile wing/forward who can do a little of everything. He’s even bigger than Iggy although Iggy was like the most elite role player you can ever find so it’s hard to actually be that impactful.
As a UAB fan, the best parts of Yax’s game is that he’s extremely coachable, and that he’s open to any role on the team. Even on UAB, when he was miles better than pretty much anyone else in the conference, if somebody else on the team got hot that night, he had no problem feeding the ball to them and only taking 2 shots himself the entire night. Sometimes his unselfish play was also his downfall, but I’m excited to see how Kerr develops him. People quote his age and kinda gloss by the fact he’s still very much developing since he didn’t really start organized basketball until late high school and has dramatically improved every single year, even last year.
Yo fellow UAB fan. There are dozens of us
My god this sounds fantastic the one thing we have that actually works every game is Kerr so I am so stoked to see what happens this season.
Off topic but my wife has been in love with Iguodala’s arms for 13 years
Pythons everywhere
I’m not greedy, I’ll be ok if Yaxel doesn’t win Finals MVP as long as he gets us there a couple times
Andre Iguodala was an all star, and finals mvp, the warriors retired his jersey 9 in the rafters. He was not a role player. He was a solid veteran leader for that young core. As we see, Draymond became more unhinged without veteran guidance after AI’s retirement.
Iggy was a 99 percentile athlete and basketball mind though. The stuff he could do at age 36 was still insane.
He’s smart, he’s got insane measurables, and he’s got the defense first mindset
Hard to see him not becoming a Kerr favorite instantly
It also helps that he’s coming into the league as like a 40 year old rookie rather than a 19 year old one.
On a serious note, I’m sure Kerr will be more inclined to play an older rookie early as opposed to a really young rookie.
Yup
Exactly. He’s willing to adjust and can pass, defend, and shoot. Kerr will absolutely love him and spam the shit out of him. And he’s got experience playing the 5 for 2 years in college (not taking into account Juco) so expect some small ball 5 lol
Love the honesty from Yaxel, and he should start.
Not sure if he starts when we’re fully healthy. Kerr does switch the starting lineup a lot so he will definitely have his games but Gui earned his spot as a starter until otherwise proven. But he’ll get a shit ton of mins.
Were most likely never going to be fully healthy a single point next season, so I’m not even going to pretend it might happen. Also think he’ll get the starting spot from Dray or Gui pretty early if he plays well. Especially if Dray takes another step back in production. But Gui and Dray definitely have both spots until proven otherwise.
Even without Jimmy, we probably open the season with like Steph-Podz-Gui-Dray-Center as our 5. Maybe Yax is that center player since he has the size for it.
I would think dray slides to the 5 like he has in the past in that scenario. I definitely see yax as a younger more athletic version of when dray came in the league and feel like playing with him on the court would only help him and the team. They could definitely interchange between 4⁄5 on the floor together depending on match ups
Yaxel beat nearly *everybody* in this super strong college class this year. He was the dude. Michigan had the strongest schedule and played basically everybody. The best team they met was Duke (and Boozer–who I think also will just walk into the NBA and be good).
The playoffs might be different, but December in the NBA is going to be just another December for him. Kerr can hold him back all he wants, but Yaxel passed Gui last year.
Still needs to prove it. He’ll earn it eventually, I’m super excited about him.
I mean didn’t Kerr play Richard a lot last season
He’s more conservative than many coaches but with GS roster and injuries(Moody’s patellar, Butler ACL), you play the rook if he’s good
Especially if he’s almost 24. You don’t draft a 24 year old in the lottery to not play him
Tell that to the lakers
tbf Dalton might as well be 18 with his bbiq
He’s that bad huh
yeah he constantly forgets where to position, defensive rotations and offensive sets its why Bronny gets more mins than him lol
Yep. His only redeeming quality was his hustle, which I pretty much expect from every young player who isn’t guaranteed a roster spot. So, I don’t think much is lost by replacing him quickly.
Cedi Osman got like 10 years of NBA by pure Game IQ, hustle and pretty much nothing else.
You have to have the game iq for it to work though.
Well we did play him tbf, he was just ass after he got figured out and hasn’t improved his game at all
He played until he was ass
Crazy that Yaxel is only 4 months younger than Moody
A lot of definitions of ‘crazy’ these days
crazy statement ngl
Exactly. What are you going to do, give him a couple years and wait until he’s 26? 😂
Man is 2 years older than Wemby. He better come in ready to play.
Kerr does play rookies. Kerr started Wiseman in his first game ever. Kerr played Jordan Bell his rookie year right in the middle of the dynasty. Podz got plenty of playing time. Jackson-Davis, Post, and Will Richard all got minutes as SECOND ROUND rookies. It was just Kuminga and Moody that didnt get minutes, and that transformed the narrative bc Kuminga made a huge deal about it
Dude played Jordan Bell in a conference finals series against prime James Harden lol
some of the hypest 2 dunks a game you’ll get
Dude played Nico Manion. Kerr will play guys if they’re not dumb.
Alan Smaeligic
tbf, Loon was the only big capable of not resisting Harden’s foul baiting. When Loon was tired, Bell would come in. Couldn’t play West, Javale or Zaza much because they’d get cooked on the mismatch hunting.
and Kuminga and Moody were rookies the year we won a title.. it’s pretty normal for rookies to not play a ton of minutes on a title team.
Moody did contribute to the chip a little. He was a bright spot in that game 2 victory vs Dallas, when we were down by like 20+
Podz infamously gets tons of minutes and did so over klay in his rookie year, tjd was the starting center that year, post slid up to the starting center spot after looking unplayable in preseason and grinding in the g league, and richard played 69 games at 20 mpg despite having clearly hit the rookie wall later in the season
Not to mention there’s a good chance the warriors go on another bad luck streak where everyone gets injured and their entire healthy roster is just podz and 6 eurobasket players, so both rookies will probably get a lot of playing time unless they look like they belong in guangdong
We need podz, yaxel and co to help win some games so Steph can rest a bit during the season. They do that, they get experience, build confidence and the. Jimmy is back after ASB. Maximize chances to keep everyone healthy and provide you can win even when. Not 100
yes richard, podz, post, gui, poole it’s a long list of rookies that got plenty of playing time. But it is also true that on a team that is not rebuilding you’re going to have a shorter leash if you fuck up (Kuminga). The narrative just took a life of its own, but like all narratives there is a kernel of truth.
Gui never really got much playing time. Gui was a developmental project that really panned out.
Conservative? Kerr ain’t conservative at all he’s know for playing a million different starting lineups
The “Kerr doesn’t play rookies” narrative makes no sense anyway. He’s had a total of 4 rookies in 12 seasons that were drafted earlier than 28th overall. It would be one thing if he had good rookies and wasn’t playing them, but he’s had barely any young talent to work with. When you are winning titles every year, you aren’t likely to end up with a lot of quality prospects.
Wiseman: 2nd overall pick, starting center from day 1
Kuminga: 7th overall, rotation player as a rookie, became the youngest player in NBA history to start a playoff game
Moody: 14th overall, didn’t play big minutes but started 11 games
Podz: 19th overall, third on the team in minutes
Richard was playing until he hit a rookie wall and regressed late last season. Hell, he even started some games. As others have mentioned, TJD, Podz, and Post are all recent rookies that played a good amount.
Kuminga played 17mins a game in 70 games his rookie year. Moody played 52 at 11.7 mins a game. Moody’s defense was horrible early on and he had to clean up some stuff about his shot but his minutes steadily rose over the years. JK didn’t really work on what Kerr wanted him to and he didn’t really buy in for an extended stretch.
The way that the team is looking now, I’m going to have a really good chance to play.
That’s a very mature way of saying: We ass.
I think he was referring to the fact that the Warriors have two starters who are out long term, which means there are more minutes for other guys.
and they’re both forwards
so yeah… they are ass for now since they are missing 2 starting forwards.
A team with steph curry cant be that ass. If they have jimmy, they’re a top 10 team. Yaxel gonna be a good add foe them. Hopefully they can add another good piece or two somehow.
We’re definitely not ass, but the meme is still funny lol
“This team is buns bro, even I can start”
“Y’all buns, they have to play me”
Even though he played the 3 in college Yaxel is gonna be more of a 4 in the NBA.
The Warriors don’t really have any depth at that position right now, which is what he is referring to with the current makeup of the roster.
Draymond and Santos. But they could be moved around.
They will* be moved around
He played the 5 for the 2 years prior to Michigan. He’s definitely a 4 being nearly 6’10 in shoes.
To support your point, he has a 7’4 wingspan (which is more relevant info because you defend with your hands, not the top of your head). And he’s a muscular 240. He could easily play minutes at the 5 in the current NBA.
He was also only a 3 in listed roster versus actual reality. He was the younger LeBron style 3 that was the PG almost as often as he was the actual 3.
There’s a reason his nickname was Dominican Bron. He can really play any position on the floor. Even says in this clip that he wants to be a secondary ball handler.
I love yaxel.
Draymond either adopting this guy or assaulting him. No imbetweens
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He’s not wrong at all 😅
Sorry if you’re not white or have broccoli hair you don’t get any playing time
If we drafted a 24 year old rookie to have him not play this entire organization needs to be torn down
Like this guy a lot ik warriors fans were hoping to land Trey Murphy but I think this is a good in between
i fucking LOVE this comment from yaxel lol, tbh i think the vets’ll love it too
he’s not wrong. he’s probably best wing right now
Confident fella, I like
The Warriors could afford to keep their younger players on a short leash before, because they were… well, themselves.
But things change.
Lendeborg also has a skillset rather than being a superfreak athlete without a kit, and there’s a pretty decent history of having a discernible toolkit being more to Kerr’s taste in any event.
“This team sucks, so I’m probably getting minutes.”
Yaxel on Steph Curry: “Honestly back in 2016, I was a big Kyrie guy. I hated Steph Curry.”
Yaxel on Draymond: “I know he from Michigan State, he a Spartan guy. I’m not really fond of that.”
Yaxel on Steve Kerr: “He doesn’t play rookies as much, he has a history of that.”
Maybe he should have kept that to himself hahaha
soft saying santos and green sucks
I love Yaxel, I’m glad he landed where he did and I really hope it works out for him.
I already like him. No filter but a lot more eloquent than Ant. Lmao
Never knew he was this unfiltered
Imagine they trade Draymond so he doesn’t end up punching another Michigan alumni which also means Yaxel could start.
I know you’re mostly joking but I feel like people ignore the reality that he wouldn’t be there if Steph didn’t want him there. I can’t imagine a plausible Draymond trade that would make the Warriors good enough in the short term for Steph to want him gone.
Players know that if they try to punk Steph he has this unhinged lunatic teammate that will probably come and choke them out or body slam them from behind
Totally agree. This has been my take for years now. And honestly, we owe everything we are as a franchise to Steph, so if he wants Draymond around, then so be it (even tho Dray drives me fuckin crazy sometimes…)
START lol
I mean his competition for the 3 spot right now is Gui Santos and Deanthony Melton. He absolutely has a chance. Jimmy is out till all star break and Moody may not return at all next season. And if Kerr remains adamant about starting Draymond at the 5 then that 4 spot is effectively his.
He’s not a 3 though. He’s a 4 and so is everyone except Jimmy.
There’s not a huge difference between a 3 and a 4 these days. He played the 3 in college, probably more likely to play the 4 in the NBA, but I saw him guard Keaton Wagler the entire game in college and Wagler is a PG/SG so he has the versatility to play other wing positions.
Lmfaoo
from Lendeborg to Hindenburg. get ready to speak Kuminga buddy
If he doesn’t start I would be so damn confused honestly
Not if Draymond has anything to say about that. 😵 🥊
Please make this the end of Draymond
I mean I’d be a lil worried if he can’t beat out gui santos
I like him already. Hopefully Draymond doesn’t sabotage his career.
kerrs held rookies on a short leash for years but this warriors team is different right now. they need youth and energy bad. if lendeborgs showing him something in practice kerr will give him minutes. gotta respect the confidence
He should start IMO.
Lmfao damn
He’s older than some of the vets so I’d expect him to start at some point
Draymond just took offense to that
Can’t not afford to play/start a 24yo rookie you took in the lottery.
We are old and always injured…there will definitely be minutes once the season starts
Yaxel will be approaching retirement by the end of his rookie contact. GS has to get their money’s worth.
Perfect to learn from steph and take over , hope he sticks around long time !
Yaxel is more polished than any other rookie we’ve drafted thus far.
Our system is geared towards a unicorn like Steph that, unlike other superstars, doesn’t dominate the ball to dominate the game. This requires a good deal of rewiring of how to play off use when throughout most of their playing career they’ve had maybe an iso heavy star or were the iso heavy star player.
Nowhere near a pro but if I had to play a pickup game where I had to constantly move on offense to make space for a Steph type player and was asked to exert a ton of energy on defense, I’d leave the rec game 😂
at least he knows whats up and doesnt mince his takes, for now
Let’s hope Draymond doesn’t assault this one…
You’re not gonna be starting over LeBron, bro.
Hahahahaha i like this kid
Kerr has played rookies a lot every year since KD left lol
man is just dutch lol this how he is lmao
He’s too tall for Kerr’s liking.
Draymond calls the shots on the warriors, not Kerr
I don’t know him but I’m pulling for him already
Do worry kid, you’ll be a Laker soon.
I mean Podz played 27mpg as a rookie and started a bunch, Poole played 23mpg. Warriors rookies have often been complete ass. Even after years of development, moody, kuminga, wiseman were garbage.
This is like Norm’s SNL monologue where he said either he learned to be really funny in a year or the show got really really bad.
“We some bums. They gonna need me out there.”