Yaxel Lendeborg doesn’t mince words when speaking about Steph Curry, Steve Kerr

Immediately after the Warriors selected former Michigan star Yaxel Lendeborg with the 11th pick in the NBA draft, he showed he might need some additional public relations training after a couple of honest interviews.

Over the past week, Lendeborg has met with the media and did not mince words when talking about how he used to feel about Steph Curry and playing for Steve Kerr, who traditionally doesn’t play rookies.

During his introductory news conference Tuesday, Lendeborg admitted he grew up hating watching Curry because he was a big fan of former Cavaliers star Kyrie Irving.

“It’s a full-circle moment for me. I’ve been saying this every time I get asked this question. In 2016, I’m a big Kyrie guy, so I used to hate Steph Curry,” Lendeborg said. “So now that I’m actually going to be on the same team as him, play and actually learn so much from him, it means a lot.”

“I’ve met him a couple of times; he’s a very great guy, genuine person, and it’s going to be an honor to watch him do what he does in person. I’m very excited.”

There’s no problem in admitting you were a fan of another team while growing up, so it makes sense why Lendeborg might’ve had a particular feeling about Curry and the Warriors as they met Irving and the Cavaliers in the NBA Finals for three consecutive seasons from 2015-2017. Irving was on the losing side of the series twice in 2015 and 2017.

But when Lendeborg was asked about conversations he had with Kerr, he didn’t hold back from admitting that Kerr doesn’t necessarily like to play rookies and admitted that his new coach’s hand might be forced to play him because the Warriors are simply not a good team now.

“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,” Lendeborg said Friday when meeting with the media. “Just having that kind of hope gives me extra motivation.”

To Lendeborg’s credit, the Warriors aren’t the well-oiled machine that used to dominate the NBA from 2014 to 2022.

Since they won their last NBA title during the 2021-2022 season, Golden State has consistently placed in the bottom part of the Western Conference and recently had its first losing season since 2019-2020, when they finished 15-50, the same season in which they were without Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson.

Lendeborg went on to praise Kerr for the great job he has done since he became the head coach of the team in May 2014.

“I know he’s a Hall of Fame coach, he’s played under a Hall of Fame coach as well, he’s learned so much, he played with one of the best players [Michael Jordan] of all time as well,” Lendeborg said. “He just knows so much of the game, so I feel like the impression I just wanna leave on him is someone who’s willing to learn, someone who’s going to value his core values and play values.”

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