You don't have to tell Yaxel Lendeborg that all eyes are on him to keep the Golden State Warriors afloat with their all-encompassing superstar Stephen Curry sidelined with an oblique abdominal strain for likely the next month. In fact, he really knows it. Like, really, really knows what the Warriors will need of him.
“I gotta be a lot, lot, a lot more aggressive,” Lendeborg told reporters Friday at Golden State's morning shootaround in San Antonio. “Definitely have to be more of a score-first mindset now. My mindset so far has been just supporting Steph. Now it's more so like this is more supporting Steph than ever, but just more aggressively… We'll see how it goes. Me and (Brandin Podziemski) are going to do a lot of extra scoring now.”
How confident is Lendeborg – the unfiltered and charismatic rookie who had the audacity to talk crazy with Luka Doncic, and live to tell the tale – that he can step into that de facto No. 1 scoring option in charge of being the hub of the Warriors offense?
When asked that question, Lendeborg shook his head side to side, eyes widening, as he considered the weight of that responsibility.
“Probably six out of 10,” the ever-honest Lendeborg put bluntly, via Joseph Dycus of the Mercury News. “Honestly, it's like it'll be fun, good trying to figure out what ways I can score fast, or what I got to do to be able to be an efficient scorer. And then the other four is like, man, am I gonna be able to live up to it? Am I gonna be able to help out the team the way I want to? But time will tell.”
Yaxel Lendeborg and Brandin Podziemski's leaps early this season
The time that has passed has already told us that Lendeborg has lived up to everything the Warriors have needed from them, and then some. Through the first 12 games of his career, Dubs' 11th overall lottery pick has averaged 21.7 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 3.7 assists, shooting 51.6% from the field and 42.6% from the 3-point line.
From running the floor and bullying his way to the rim to knocking down 3-pointers at a good clip, and most recently against the Houston Rockets, going toe-to-toe with the great Kevin Durant, Lendeborg has flashed the qualities of a guy with star potential– or at the very least a guy who can be the No. 2 next to a star like Curry and contribute to winning.
To be as blunt as Lendeborg's been with the media: He's been a miracle for Golden State and one they desperately needed.
And in less dramatic terms, you can include Brandin Podziemski in there too. After signing his five-year, $110-million extension, the fourth-year guard has taken the exact leaps and bounds the Warriors believed he had in him. Through 1o games, Podziemski has averaged 17.3 points, shooting 48.1% from the field and 39.7% from the 3-point line, all of which would be career-highs if he can maintain his momentum.
Podziemski's been far more patient on the ball, far more aggressive in attacking the gaps and taking what the defense has given him. His defense, though already solid thanks to his high IQ, has been tighter, more POA-y, more sturdy against the physical freaks of the NBA.
Entering a season with little expectations, Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody sidelined and Kristaps Porzingis having stepped away from basketball, and the Warriors themselves acknowledging that they don't quite have the same championship-or-bust goals like in the golden years past, Lendeborg's instant emergence and Podziemski's leap have been the help Curry lacked in the stretch run of last season, re-injected the organization and the fanbase with some real hope and excitement.
But now, with their superstar sidelined, Lendeborg and Podziemski, fair or unfair, are tasked with taking another step forward. Because when you look up and down the Warriors' roster, sure, the depth this season helped guide them to their eight-game winning streak, but only Lendeborg and Podziemski have the tools, the youth, and the potential to make any of it work without Curry.
What does that look like for Yaxel Lendeborg?
But regardless of what Lendeborg's 6-out-of-10 level of confidence in himself, he and Podziemski got the mandate of heaven from Draymond Green, who noted that along with the “spirit of the team” being better, those two guys “definitely put us in a better position.”
And what Green wants Lendeborg to understand is that mindset matters.
“The thing he’s gonna have to learn to understand is, all right, Steph wasn’t out there, (when) KD was off the court — you look around, you’re probably the best player on the floor, regardless of team,” Green explained after the Houston loss.
“And so, I think there was a point where he realized like, ‘Oh, ding ding ding,' and he started attacking, and the game flipped for us.” Green continued, snapping his fingers to imitate the metaphorical light bulb that turned on in Lendeborg's head that guided him to 25 points and 10 rebounds against the Rockets.
Article Continues Below“I think that’s something he’s going to have to realize really fast, is like, there will be often times where he could possibly be the best player on the floor regardless of the team. And we need him to show that, and he doesn’t have a problem doing it.”
That belief in Lendeborg is team-wide; from Steve Kerr to the end of the bench, it's as if the organization's mission from day one has been to pour nothing but confidence into their 24-year-old rookie.
That confidence will be tested over the next month, with this four-game road trip being the first of many tasks Lendeborg and the Warriors will have to weather. Lendeborg knows teams are going to hound him on the dribble. He knows teams are going to gap him on the drive and that he'll have to use his playmaking to find the open man. He knows he's the biggest name on the chalkboard when it comes to opponents' scouts.
But most importantly for Lendeborg, he knows the switch he's going to have to flip begins in his mind. Because as Green said, he has physical tools and makeup to be the best player on the floor. He just has to channel the mindset of the best player on the floor.
“A lot of meditation, self-talk,” Lendeborg said of his approach to getting into the mindset of becoming what the Warriors need of him. “While I was on the bench (in Houston), late first quarter, they were telling me I need to step up, I need to do this and do that. And I just close my eyes, meditate, talk to myself, like, ‘I gotta do this, I’m able to do this, I’m good enough.' Stuff like that. Just positive self-talk. That usually kinda helps me out.”
“And if it doesn’t, then I’m kinda gonna be f—ed the rest of the game.”
The Warriors are hoping that Lendeborg's meditation and self-talk do help him out because, as the rookie intimated in his unique brand of honesty and directness, they'll sink if it doesn't.