Happy 24th birthday to Warriors rookie Yaxel Lendeborg

It gets funnier. Kuminga turns 24 on October 6th which makes Yax six days older than the guy Golden State took seventh overall in 2021, back when JK was an 18-year-old with 13 inefficient G League Ignite games to his name. Podz was 20 when the Warriors called his name at No. 19 in 2023. Yaxel went No. 11 this June as the oldest first-rounder in the whole draft, at least three years older than all ten guys picked ahead of him.

The internet loves treating a 23-year-old draft pick like a carton of milk you found behind the leftovers. Check the date, give it a sniff, toss it. I absolutely get the instinct; by the time Steph Curry was 24 he was already in season four, dropping 54 on the Knicks in Madison Garden. I also think it misses the entire point of this kid, because Yaxel spent the years most lottery picks spend in AAU gyms doing something way less glamorous.

He played 11 varsity games in high school. Eleven! He ended up becoming a national champion at Michigan while taking Big Ten Player of the Year averaging 15.1 points and 6.8 rebounds and hitting 37.2% from deep.