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Jun 23, 2026; New York, NY, USA; NBA commissioner Adam Silver announces the eleventh pick in the 2026 NBA draft, Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg after he was selected by the Golden State Warriors at Barclays Center.
It’s no secret that Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green can be a difficult person to get along with, even for his own teammates.
Don’t believe us? Just ask Jordan Poole.
On a similar note, Warriors’ rookie Yaxel Lendeborg, whom the team selected with the 11th pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, also has a history of rubbing people the wrong way.
So it’s easy to see how those two personalities could end up having issues when you place them in the same locker room together. But nobody could’ve imagined that the two would already have beef before even actually practicing or playing a game together.
Draymond Green Says That Yaxel Lendeborg Is A Liar
At his introductory press conference, reporters asked Lendeborg if any of his new Golden State teammates had reached out to him yet and welcomed him to the organization.
Lendeborg said that Steph Curry immediately added him to the team group chat, but that Green did not reply to his text when he first reached out.
Green, however, says that’s a lie.
Yaxel’s been f—ing lying,” Green said on a recent episode of his podcast. “It’s the Michigan way. This guy texted me, I text back within 30 seconds. This f—ing guy goes in an interview and says ‘oh man, Steph reached out, texted Draymond, still waiting on a response back’. You f—ing liar, Yaxel…So I had to expose the young fella a bit, we’re not really a team very big on like, rookie hazing, but we can pick that back up, start having more and more rookie duties.”
Green also showed texts that proved his side of the story. While he seemed to be joking, and their competitive personalities may work well together, it’s not exactly the best start to the Draymond Green-Yaxel Lendeborg relationship.
Thankfully for the Warriors, it’s hard to envision a future where they’re both playing together for very long, with Green entering the new season at 36 years old.