He might be the one defender disappointed to miss Luka Doncic.
Warriors rookie Yaxel Lendeborg got a taste for how quickly things can change in the NBA ahead of his preseason game Tuesday night against the Lakers.
Ultimately, the 6-foot-9, 241-pounder ended up matched up with Lakers center Walker Kessler, who made his preseason debut in the Warriors’ 101-89 exhibition win.
But, as Lendeborg explained in entertaining fashion afterward, that wasn’t the initial plan.
“It was a complete shift of what I had planned in my mind,” he told reporters.
Doncic was given the night off by coach JJ Redick, but the Warriors didn’t know that when they were going over the defensive plan of attack leading up to tipoff. Lendeborg had held his own on offense, averaging 19 points per game over his previous three exhibitions, and the Warriors decided they wanted to put the No. 11 pick’s defensive versatility to the test.
Lendeborg did a double-take when assistant coach Frank Vogel informed him of his assignment. He was the two-time Defensive Player of the Year in the American Athletic Conference and a first-team defender last year in the Big Ten.
But this would be a new challenge.
“I’m on my phone chilling and [Vogel] comes up to me, ‘Hey, you’re guarding Luka tonight,’” Lendeborg recalled. “I said, ‘What the f–k? You’re just gonna throw me in the fire?’”
The rookie’s eyes widened as he shook his head retelling the story at his locker after the game.
“I tried to act all cool, but I was spooked,” he said. “That was crazy.”
Doncic led the NBA in scoring for the second time in his career last season, averaging 33.5 points per game on a league-high 22.8 shots from the field and 10.1 attempts at the foul line.
“I think [Vogel] said he averages like 30, 35. Nobody can stop him, so do your best,” Lendeborg said. “That was it. My mind was all over the place after that.”
A short while later, Lendeborg learned he wouldn’t have to try to stay in front of the 6-8, 230-pound Doncic. He’d instead be giving up 5 inches to the 7-2 Kessler.
In his first game in a Lakers uniform, Kessler scored 11 points and grabbed nine rebounds in 16 minutes. Lendeborg got to the line nine times and scored 17 points in 26 minutes.
It wasn’t exactly what he had in mind.
But he learned another lesson along the way.
In the NBA, change can come in a moment’s notice — he’d better be ready.
