Golden State Warriors rookie Yaxel Lendeborg has continued to impress in each of his first four games, and the climb peaked Monday night. The No. 11 overall pick exploded for a game-high 31 points, 12 rebounds, and 6 assists in a 134-114 rout of the Denver Nuggets to help the Warriors to their first win of the season after an 0-3 start.
Bill Simmons took notice of Lendeborg's start and shared his first overreaction of the season's opening week, reaching for a LeBron James comparison to make his case.
Simmons began with where he stood on the Warriors before Monday's win, then turned to the rookie:
"I was convinced before last night that this was one of the five worst teams in the league and maybe one of the three worst… That leads me to my 1st overreaction after one week. Overreaction #1, Yaxel might have single-handedly saved the Steph era, like for real, and I can't tell you how good he was in this Denver game last night."
Simmons then built his case for the rookie around a comparison to the league's all-time leading scorer.
"Yaxel looked like mid-2010s LeBron in this game. I don't say that lightly because mid-2010s LeBron was awesome. They were running the offense through him. He was all over the place on defense. He was rebounding. He was initiating stuff. He was getting to the basket whenever. It was unbelievable."
Against Nikola Jokić and crew, Lendeborg shot 9-of-19 from the field and 12-of-13 at the free-throw line while adding 4 offensive rebounds and a block to finish plus-27 in 31 minutes.
After Monday's win, Warriors coach Steve Kerr balanced his praise with a reminder of how much the rookie is still learning.
"There's still probably 10 plays that I can pull up on tape, either mistakes defensively or offensively not recognizing something that he needs to recognize," Kerr said. "Despite all that, he just dominated the game and took over. At 24, in his fourth game. So, pretty impressive."
From playing junior college ball at Arizona Western to getting into a chippy back-and-forth with Luka Dončić, Lendeborg has taken a long road to Monday's breakout.
The rookie has started all four regular-season games and is averaging 21.8 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 4.8 assists, with double-doubles against Memphis and Denver.
After the win, Lendeborg was candid about the expectations he had for himself, especially about the work left on the defensive end. "I still have to figure out my weakside help. I gave up a lot of buckets down low. Just thinking my teammates gonna get back, and they're thinking I'm gonna stay there. So it's just a little confusing."
Steadily finding his footing in the NBA, Lendeborg's availability against the Minnesota Timberwolves remains in doubt as Tuesday's injury report lists him as questionable with left foot inflammation and soreness.
Tipoff at Target Center in Minneapolis is set for 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Oct. 28. The Warriors then return to Chase Center to host the Lakers on Friday in a rematch of their season opener.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network .
