Through one week of the 2026-27 NBA season, not much has gone right for the Golden State Warriors. Drama surrounding Kristaps Porzingis' absence continues to raise major questions, and the team started 0-3 for the first time with Stephen Curry before picking up their first win on Monday against the Denver Nuggets.
Although there have been various reasons to be concerned, Monday in Denver may have been a turning point for the Warriors, especially with rookie Yaxel Lendeborg putting his foot down and asserting his dominance. Lendeborg finished the game with 31 points to lead all scorers, 12 rebounds, six assists, and a block.
In a game that featured Steph, Draymond Green, Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, and DeMar DeRozan, it was the Warriors' rookie who stood out as the best player on the court. With his 31-12-6 stat line, Lendeborg actually became the first Dubs rookie since Steph Curry in 2010 to record at least 30 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists in a game.
But is any of this truly all that surprising when you look at Lendeborg? Perhaps it is because he joined a Golden State team grasping its last inch of hope in terms of being a threat in the Western Conference, but overall, nobody should be shocked to see Lendeborg thrive in the NBA.
Unlike many rookies, who enter the league at 18, 19, or 20 years old, Lendeborg is basically a seasoned veteran at 24 years old. Even though many teams tend to stay away from older players in the draft, Yaxel was unique and stood out because success followed him everywhere he went.
There's simply a certain aura with Lendeborg that not only brings out the best in him every night but also in those around him. Lendeborg knows he may not be the best on the court, yet he never backs down from any challenge and is always giving it 110% on the court.
That was evident in his first regular-season assignment against Luka Doncic, and it's even more apparent if you go back and watch what he did at Michigan last year.
Even though Aday Mara and Morez Johnson Jr. held integral roles in the Michigan Wolverines' NCAA Championship run, it was Lendeborg who led the team there and captained them to a title. Entering the NBA, this mindset has not changed for Lendeborg.
Despite being a rookie and still learning every moment he spends around Curry, Green, Steve Kerr, and the other veterans on the Warriors' roster, he's been extremely confident in terms of stepping into a leadership role. While he may still be low on the totem pole as a rookie, Lendeborg has the full respect of his teammates, the organization, and has quickly gained the respect of teams around the league.
Ahead of Wednesday night's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the mood surrounding the Warriors has completely shifted.
Losing the first three games of the season doesn't mean anything anymore following Monday's win in Denver, especially since Golden State and Lendeborg found confidence and energy that have been nonexistent since their title run in 2022.
Yaxel Lendeborg leans on Warriors' leaders
The Warriors just looked different in Denver.
Obviously, being 0-3 and having their backs up against the wall put pressure on the team to win a big road game against a three-time MVP in Nikola Jokic, but the adrenaline and that need to win was different. The approach, the mindset, and that don't-back-down mentality were different.
For the first time all season, there was a will to win, and Lendeborg was the catalyst behind that for the Warriors. Even so, the rookie knows his success is simply born from the teachings his veterans share with him every day.
“I would say Steph and Draymond's confidence for me,” Lendeborg said after Monday's game in response to being asked about what has unlocked everything for him early in the season. “After the (preseason) game in Hawaii, where I think I had like three points and only took like three shots, I asked them for some guidance, some advice. And they told me to just try to be confident, be aggressive, and play through their mistakes. I'm going to be in that position to do that.
“I mean, just hearing that from those two guys, you know, I was coming into the game timid like ‘I don't want to mess up what they got going on,' and they pretty much just gave me free roam. They helped me out, and from then, I just vowed to be a little more aggressive each night.”
Before the season even started, Lendeborg was drawing a lot of praise from those within the organization. Even Green discussed how high he was on the Warriors' new addition, claiming that Yaxel wouldn't just win the Rookie of the Year award but that he has all the traits and skills of a player who can become the new face of the franchise after Curry.
That is quite the praise from a future Hall of Famer and someone who has won four championships alongside Curry, especially to a rookie. But that's the thing — Lendeborg isn't like all the other rookies.
One key difference between Lendeborg and normal rookies, aside from his experience and age, is the fact that the game isn't too fast for him.
All the time, young players and inexperienced NBA players enter the league and are caught off guard by the pace, the style of play, and just how everything hits them all at once. None of this has impacted Lendeborg to this point, which is another reason why he's been able to find so much success with the Warriors.
Impact on Dubs' style of play
Throughout the year, Kerr has not really relied on rookies all that much.
It took time for Jordan Poole to work his way into the equation when he was still with the team, and the same could be said about Moses Moody and Brandin Podziemski. In fact, the only rookies who have actually contributed meaningful minutes during Kerr's tenure with the team were those stepping in once in a while as a result of injuries.
Lendeborg is different simply because he isn't like most rookies.
“He's as strong as an ox and skilled. The way the game is played, he's going to be able to get to the line a ton, and you saw it tonight,” Kerr said of Lendeborg after the Warriors' 134-114 win over the Nuggets on Monday. “In all the critical moments of the game, we put the ball in his hands. And for a rookie to be that advanced already, it's extremely rare, but it's exciting because I think he's going to get a lot better too.”
As much as the Warriors' offense and their potential success revolves around Curry's involvement and production, it doesn't necessarily have to if Lendeborg can continue to play like this.
Even with all the screens and guys running around in Kerr's offense, having someone who is 6'10” like Lendeborg, who can not only shoot but also put the ball on the floor and attack defenders in one-on-one situations at the rim, creates havoc for opposing defenses.
This is what made Andrew Wiggins so special for the Warriors during his prime years, as his downhill attacking abilities and defensive effort elevated Golden State back to their championship relevance. Now, this is not all to say that Lendeborg's production makes the Warriors championship contenders again… because it doesn't.
However, and take this with a grain of salt, everything he does on the court is what unlocks the Warriors' potential.
Could that be just making the playoffs or potentially going on a run late in the year? We simply don't have enough information to deduce that quite yet, but this one performance against the Nuggets for the Warriors' rookie certainly changes a lot of the dynamic and outlook for the team.
What makes Lendeborg so important to the Warriors' scheme and how they play is the fact that the game comes to him naturally and he's able to adjust the tempo on the court through certain things he does.
In recent years, the Warriors' rhythm has been thrown off on offense, leading to positions that are too fast or lead to turnovers. This was especially true without Jimmy Butler in the lineup, who acted as a fail-safe in a way for Curry and others, where he could play one-on-one, ease tension offensively, and get to the free-throw line.
That is what Kerr sees in Lendeborg early in his rookie season, and that skill is only going to continue to grow for the Warriors' new forward.
“Changes everything. When you get to the (free-throw) line consistently, you can control the game,” Kerr continued. “The other team goes on a run, you go to a guy like Yax or Jimmy, get fouled, and the game slows down. You set your defense, and the game just gets a lot easier. So Yax having that ability, combined with his passing skills — he's going to be a guy who's going to close games like he did tonight.”
Through his first four official games in the NBA, Lendeborg has totaled 133 minutes, 87 points, 37 rebounds, and 19 assists. No other player on the Warriors has recorded over 100 minutes to this point, and he leads the team in scoring and rebounding.
In fact, he is the first player in NBA history to have at least 80 points, 30 rebounds, and 15 assists through his team's first four games since Alvan Adams on the Phoenix Suns in 1975.
Lendeborg is absolutely proving to be the steal of the 2026 NBA Draft with the 11th pick, and now, the big question is whether he can keep this momentum going and build it into a real Rookie of the Year campaign.
Rookie of the Year in Yaxel Lendeborg's future?
Entering the 2026-27 NBA season, there was a lot of hype surrounding this rookie class. AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cam Boozer, and Caleb Wilson were the top picks and the early favorites to win the award.
Article Continues BelowIt is only one week, so we can't overreact just yet. Then again, it's hard to ignore what Lendeborg has done.
Only four 24-year-olds in the league are averaging more than 20 points per game this season: Paolo Banchero (24.5), Alperen Sengun (24.5), Brandon Miller (24.3), and Yaxel Lendeborg (21.8).
Banchero and Sengun have been All-Stars recently, and Miller entered the year as a favorite for the Most Improved Player award. All three of these players also recently signed major nine-figure contracts as their teams' best players.
Lendeborg is just a rookie, and yet he is performing at an All-Star level through the first week of the season. Again, it's just one week, but the scary thing for the rest of the league and the Warriors' upcoming opponents is that he has been improving each game and truly doesn't fear any competition.
In the first game of the season, Lendeborg guarded Luka Doncic and held his own against the MVP favorite, who went just 1-of-5 from the floor against the Warriors' rookie. Luka's only made shot against Lendeborg was a half-court shot at the end of the first half.
These two were going back and forth with one another, which ultimately led to a technical foul being called on Lendeborg at one point. His response: clapping, smiling, and continuing to jaw with Doncic.
After the first game of the year, a 127-105 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, where Lendeborg had 12 points in his debut, the Warriors' rookie spoke his mind and didn't hold back against how his feelings changed for Doncic.
“I had a lot of respect for him,” Lendeborg said of Doncic. “But being in there firsthand, watching all the whining and complaining, I lost all respect for him. Me getting frustrated — it's not about the foul being called, it's about him complaining the entire game. And then you get the foul call, congratulations, bro. And then you talk to me like you did something great, bro? Come on now.”
"I had a lot of respect for him [Luka Doncic] … but being in there first hand, watching all the whining and complaining, I lost all respect for him."
Yaxel Lendeborg on Luka Doncic 👀
(via @anthonyVslater) pic.twitter.com/bwJr82ppwe
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) October 22, 2026
The funny thing about this eye-opening statement from the rookie after guarding Doncic in the first game of the year is that nobody across the NBA seemed to have a problem with it. All the tabloids and talk shows actually backed Lendeborg up because he said what everyone has been thinking out loud.
Lendeborg is tough, he's resilient, he has a never-quit mentality, and he simply doesn't care about anything outside his success and, more importantly, that of the team. For those reasons, he has found so much success to this point, and it's why he is at the forefront of very early Rookie of the Year talks.
Looking ahead, the Warriors will need this from Lendeborg. They need his toughness. They need his leadership. They need his skills on offense and defense.
With Butler and Moody sidelined until sometime in 2027, as well as Kristaps Porzingis being a derad contract at this point, someone needed to answer the call for the Warriors early in the 2026-27 season. So far, that player has been Lendeborg, and his continued growth will continue to unlock new paths for the Warriors to explore.
He may be 24 years old and an older rookie, but Lendeborg already looks like a long-time veteran who will be in Golden State for many years to come.