Draymond Green may have had a point when he named Yaxel Lendeborg the “next face” of the Golden State Warriors.
The Warriors rookie continued his historic start with 31 points, 12 rebounds and six assists in his team’s 134-114 win over the Denver Nuggets on Monday. In the process, Lendeborg made NBA history not seen since 1960, per Real App.
Yaxel Lendeborg this season:
21.8 PPG
9.3 RPG
4.8 APGThe first player to average those numbers through 4 career games since 1960 🤯
Furthermore, Lendeborg joined Hall of Famers Patrick Ewing, David Robinson and Shaquille O’Neal as only the fourth rookie to post 85+ points and 35+ rebounds through the first four career games in the draft lottery era (since 1985-86).
Patrick Ewing David Robinson Shaquille O’Neal Yaxel Lendeborg
Yaxel Makes Warriors History
The Warriors highlighted that Lendeborg on Monday became the first rookie to post 30+ points and 12+ rebounds since the legendary Rick Barry in 1966. He also became the first rookie since Chris Webber (1993) to score in double digits in each of his first four career games. Through his first four games, Lendeborg has tallied 87 points, 37 rebounds, 19 assists, four steals and two blocks at 45/35/77 shooting splits. The dual feats even eluded the great Stephen Curry, who entered the league in 2009-10.
“Yaxel Lendeborg is the first Warriors rookie since Chris Webber (1993) to score in double figures in each of his first four career games,” wrote the Warriors.
That’s not all. The NBA announced Lendeborg became the first Warrior rookie since Stephen Curry (2010) to record 30+ points, 10+ boards and 5+ assists in a road win.
“Yaxel Lendeborg becomes the first @warriors rookie since Steph Curry (2/10/2010) to record 30+ PTS, 10+ REB, and 5+ AST in a single game as Golden State secures the road victory!”
Warriors Celebrate Yaxel
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr had high praise for his rookie after Monday’s win.
“In all the critical spots, we put the ball in his hands, Kerr said of Lendeborg, via ESPN’s Anthony Slater.
“For a rookie to be that advanced already is extremely rare.”
“He’s going to be a guy who closes games.”
Stephen Curry praised Lendeborg’s winning intangibles.
“His composure,” Curry said of what impresses him about Lendeborg.
“I mean, he just came off of NCAA championship run. He’s just got composure and feel. He’s obviously, you know, his size on the court, he’s a matchup problem, but he’s never really in a hurry, and he’s starting to see the pictures really well, distributing, being aggressive, getting to the free throw line, offensive rebounding.
“Kinda a full package, so we want him to continue playing aggressive.”
The Warriors (1-3) will next face the Minnesota Timberwolves (3-1) in a road fixture on Wednesday night.
Warriors Get Historic Yaxel Lendeborg News After Nuggets Win