Steve Kerr credits Yaxel Lendeborg’s work ethic, after Warriors’ rocky pre-2025 interview

The Golden State Warriors’ view of rookie Yaxel Lendeborg has changed quickly, and Steve Kerr made that contrast explicit. Kerr praised Lendeborg’s progress, pointing to an arc that starts with a rough pre-2025-draft meeting and ends with a standout summer. The Warriors are now treating him as a player they are “very excited” to see in their rotation.

The key detail behind the turnaround is the difference between the team’s earlier impression and its current one. According to Yahoo Sports, Kerr’s comments reference how the Warriors interviewed Lendeborg before the 2025 draft, a meeting that did not go well. The report characterizes Lendeborg’s behavior during that interview as poorly judged, using Kerr’s reported language about him “acting like a jackass.”

A year later, the Warriors moved on anyway, and the results have helped reset the story around the rookie. Lendeborg was taken as the No. 11 pick in the draft referenced in the report, and he then followed that draft position with a major summer accomplishment. Yahoo Sports says he won Summer League MVP, a credential that typically shapes how quickly a team can trust a young player’s game against NBA-level competition.

Kerr’s praise suggests the Warriors are trying to emphasize development over first impressions. In many roster-building cycles, teams meet prospects multiple times and try to learn how they respond to pressure and coaching feedback. A draft interview is not a box score, but it can color perceptions inside a front office and the coaching staff. In this case, the coaching staff’s language indicates that Lendeborg’s on-court performance has outweighed whatever concerns existed during the earlier interview process.

Still, the public record from the report is limited in what it confirms about the Warriors’ internal decision-making. The story ties the praise to two bookends, the 2025 interview that Kerr referenced and the Summer League MVP that came afterward. What it does not provide, at least in the portion available here, are specifics on what changed between those moments, such as whether the Warriors held a formal do-over interview or what particular parts of Lendeborg’s approach drew coaching attention.

For Golden State, Lendeborg’s status as a high draft pick with a Summer League centerpiece matters because it affects how the team can plan minutes and evaluate role fit. If the Warriors believe his skill set translates from summer success to regular-season responsibilities, they can build continuity around him. If not, the team still gains at least one clear datapoint, that he can seize a larger stage against his peers and do it well enough to earn MVP recognition.

The immediate watch item is how Kerr and the Warriors incorporate Lendeborg once training camp and the early season rotation decisions take over. Summer League is a valuable proving ground, but NBA habits are formed through repetition, film study, and a coach’s daily standards. Kerr’s comments imply that Golden State sees more than raw talent, they see coachability and a rebound from a prior impression. Whether that remains true will show up quickest in how the rookie handles the pace, structure, and defensive assignments of real games.