Warriors 'Secret Weapon' Revealed After Yaxel Lendeborg's MVP Run in NBA Summer League

The Golden State Warriors won the 2026 NBA Summer League title in Las Vegas this month, and it turns out that they may have had a leg up on the competition thanks to a "secret weapon."

Per Nick Friedell of The Athletic, that secret weapon is a training facility nicknamed "Chase South," which is located 25 minutes off the Las Vegas strip and has been utilized by the Warriors for the past five years.

A former go-kart track that was converted into a basketball facility by owners Eric Bauman and Claire Kohatsu, Chase South has essentially become the Warriors' home away from home.

Although the Warriors don't own Chase South, they are permitted to use it during the summer and at various other points throughout the year.

The Warriors are estimated to have invested close to $1 million into the facility in the form of new training equipment and Warriors banners and signage.

Chase South even houses two of the courts that the Warriors played on at the Chase Center in recent years.

Rookie first-round pick Yaxel Lendeborg, who won NBA Summer League MVP honors, noted that he marveled at Chase South when he first saw it, telling Friedell, "It's definitely ridiculous. I was looking at the wall when I first walked in like, 'Do they do this for every NBA team?' And then they're like, 'No, this is ours only' Like, what?"

Warriors assistant general manager Larry Harris credited Warriors governor Joe Lacob with making Chase South happen, saying, "I don't know what the other 29 teams are doing. I've told people that will ever listen, 'No,' just doesn't come out of his mouth. [He's asking], 'What can we do to be better? What can we do on the margins to do something that's a little bit different, gives us an advantage?'"

No other team has a remote training facility quite like Chase South, which perhaps gives the Warriors a distinct advantage.

The Warriors will need every advantage they can get during the 2026-27 season, as they are largely running back a roster that 10th in the Western Conference last season with a 35-47 record.

Lendeborg could provide a shot in the arm, but the onus will largely be on veterans Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler (once he returns from a torn ACL) to deliver.