Warriors’ Steve Kerr Points Out ‘Poor’ Aspect of Yaxel Lendeborg’s Game
· Yahoo Sports
It’s probably not fair to Golden State Warriors rookie Yaxel Lendeborg that, three games into his NBA career, he already finds himself under the microscope. Sure, he invited scrutiny with his trash talk of Luka Doncic during and after the opener this week, and the fact that he is 24 years old does raise the floor on what’s expected of him. He’s also come out of the gate with averages of 18.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists in three games, which means that if the lights are bright in his first week on the job, it’s partly because he has been so remarkably productive.
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Coach Steve Kerr and Warriors teammates have given Lendeborg his flowers all through the preseason and into the opening of this year. In fact, Kerr said this week, “He’s fearless and he is huge, he has a great skillset. He can dribble, pass and shoot. The biggest thing is just continuing to learn the NBA. He is going to feel that, he is going to do that.”
Steve Kerr on Yaxel Lendeborg's defense: "His weak-side awareness right now is very poor. And with his size, he should be one of our best defenders at the rim. And right now, he's unaware on the weak-side" pic.twitter.com/g5cGzAqdqS— Oh No He Didn't 🤯 (@ohnohedidnt24) October 25, 2026
Warriors Need Better Defense
But Kerr does not want to be overly effusive in his praise of Lendeborg. After all, he is a rookie, and the mistakes he is making are obvious. After the Warriors’ loss to the Suns on Saturday, Kerr went so far as to call one aspect of Lendeborg’s game “poor”–his off-ball help defense.
Said Kerr: “The defensive side is where I want to see the most improvement. His weak-side awareness right now is very poor. And he has got, with his size, he should be one of our best defenders at the rim. And right now, he’s unaware on the weak-side and that’s an area he really has to improve.”
Yaxel Lendeborg Must Make Better Decisions
Kerr also pointed out that, offensively, the Warriors need Lendeborg to make better decisions and employ more creativity. In back-to-back games, he went too hard at big guys Zach Edey and Khaman Maluach, and paid the price.
Said Kerr: “He had a play in the first half where he got free and then he launched himself into Maluach—we saw that play a few times last night with Edey. That’s got to be a pull-up jumper, that’s got to be a Euro-step. That’s got to be a kick out. In college you can do that. But this is a different league. He’ll learn, he is playing a ton.”
The Warriors will be back in action on Monday against the Nuggets in Denver.
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