Warriors' Yaxel Lendeborg 'Used to Hate Steph Curry' as Kyrie Irving Fan Prior to NBA Draft Pick

Yaxel Lendeborg is set to team with Stephen Curry after the Golden State Warriors selected him 11th overall in the 2026 NBA draft on Tuesday night, but the former University of Michigan standout revealed there was a time when he wasn't too fond of his new teammate.

Speaking to reporters after the Warriors made him a lottery pick, Lendeborg said, "I'm a big Kyrie [Irving] guy. So I used to hate Steph Curry."

The Warriors and Cavaliers clashed in four consecutive NBA Finals from 2015 to 2018, and while Golden State won three championships during that span, Irving played a big role in lifting the Cavs to their first and only title in franchise history in 2016.

While Curry made life difficult for his favorite player, Lendeborg admitted that his opinion has changed on the future Hall of Famer since childhood, saying, "Now that I'm actually going to be able to be on the same team with him, play and actually learn so much from him, it means a lot. He's a very great guy, genuine person. It's going to be an honor to be able to watch what he does in person."

The 23-year-old Lendeborg noted that he has gotten familiar with Curry as a person recently, as he met him while attending Golden State's postseason play-in game against the Los Angeles Clippers, and spoke to him during an in-person workout with the Warriors.

In many respects, Lendeborg could be the perfect fit for a Warriors team that is looking to make one more run at a championship before veterans such as Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green either drop off or retire.

Lendeborg is ideal for that timeline since he is a mature player with plenty of collegiate experience, and he is coming off a magical season at Michigan that saw him win a national championship.

In his one season with the Wolverines after transferring from UAB, Lendeborg averaged 15.1 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.2 blocks and 1.1 steals per game, while shooting 51.5 percent from the field and 37.2 percent from beyond the arc.

As a result, Lendeborg was named a consensus First Team All-American and the Big Ten Player of the Year.

It can be argued that he doesn't have as much upside as some of the other players in the draft, but Lendeborg makes a ton of sense for a team in win-now mode like the Warriors.