The Golden State Warriors are just a few weeks away from kicking off their 2026-27 NBA season, with most of the same roster as last year intact. One of the few new faces is rookie Yaxel Lendeborg, who was drafted by the team in the first round after winning a national championship with Michigan this past season.
Unfortunately, Michigan football hasn't had as much success of late, recently blowing a home game against the Iowa Hawkeyes, and former Michigan State standout and current Warriors icon Draymond Green wasted no time letting the rookie hear about it.
“I think my role for him will be to make sure he's always aggressive… I was really impressed. It's kind of the first time– as you know, he went to a sh*t school,” said Green, per Kenzo Fukuda of ClutchPoints on X, formerly Twitter.
Green has never been shy about showing loyalty to his Spartans or hatred toward the Wolverines throughout his NBA career, and clearly, he relished Michigan's tough home loss on Saturday.
Article Continues BelowHowever, he and Lendeborg will need to put aside their (friendly) collegiate rivalry as they prepare for the new season, one in which not many pundits expect the Warriors to compete for much of anything except maybe a lower play-in spot.
Green and Stephen Curry are still the cornerstones of the Golden State operation, and it's possible that the team could get Jimmy Butler back from his ACL injury at some point this year, but health and age are major concerns, as is the overall talent level outside of the big-name players.
In any case, the Warriors will kick off their new season on October 21 vs the Los Angeles Lakers.

