Golden State Warriors rookie Yaxel Lendeborg said he was surprised when assistant coach Frank Vogel told him before Tuesday’s preseason game against the Los Angeles Lakers that he would be responsible for guarding Luka Dončić. The assignment changed before tipoff: Lakers coach JJ Redick rested Dončić, and Lendeborg instead matched up with center Walker Kessler. Golden State won, 101-89.

Lendeborg recounted that he had been looking at his phone before the game when Vogel approached him with the news. He said his immediate response was to ask whether the coaching staff was really going to put him into such a demanding matchup. Lendeborg later described himself as unsettled, although he tried to appear composed.

The rookie said Vogel told him Dončić averaged roughly 30 to 35 points and that no defender could stop him outright, advising Lendeborg to do his best. The reported assignment was a sharp change from what Lendeborg had expected for the game, he said.

Dončić did not play, so Lendeborg did not get the preseason test against the Lakers star. Instead, he faced Kessler, who was making his preseason debut for Los Angeles. Lendeborg scored 19 points in the Warriors’ victory, according to the source report.

The report described Lendeborg as a decorated defender in college. He won the American Athletic Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year award while at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, then earned first-team all-defense recognition in the Big Ten during his 2025 season with Michigan. He was selected 11th overall in the draft after Michigan’s national championship season.

Dončić, a leading offensive player, averaged 33.5 points per game last season, the source report said, making the proposed assignment a notable challenge for a rookie adjusting to the NBA. Lendeborg’s college honors and the Warriors’ decision to consider him for defensive responsibilities suggest he could be used in multiple matchups, though the report did not provide a specific regular-season role from Golden State coach Steve Kerr.

The Warriors and Lakers were scheduled to open their regular-season schedules against each other in Los Angeles on Oct. 21. The report did not confirm whether Lendeborg would be assigned to guard Dončić in that game. The preseason episode instead offered a glimpse of the expectations facing a young player whose first proposed NBA-level assignment was against one of the league’s most productive scorers.