Yaxel Lendeborg is not one to hide his feelings.
The Golden State Warriors rookie forward just outdueled Cameron Boozer to lead his team to the 2026 NBA Summer League championship, and instead of taking the high road in his postgame interview, he took a very direct shot at Boozer and the officiating.
Every game we play, them refs be saving him, Lendeborg said after the Warriors’ 94-90 win over the Grizzlies.
That is a shot. That is not subtle. And you know what? He is not entirely wrong.
Boozer, the second overall pick in the 2026 draft, had a big Summer League. He averaged 21 points and 9 rebounds and looked every bit like the physical, polished forward the Grizzlies drafted him to be. He also got to the free throw line a lot. Like, a lot. Boozer shot 42 free throws in the Vegas Summer League. That is more than any other player in the tournament.
Lendeborg noticed. The controversial timeout call in the fourth quarter of the title game, when a sideline official granted Golden State a timeout after Boozer had already stripped the ball, was the flashpoint. But Lendeborg’s comment was clearly about more than one play. He felt he had gotten under Boozer’s skin all week and that Boozer got the benefit of every 50-50 call.
The postgame quote will follow both of them into the regular season. Boozer will be in Memphis. Lendeborg will be in San Francisco. They will not see each other again until at least midseason, and when they do, every camera in the arena is going to be trained on their first meeting.
Lendeborg was named Championship Game MVP after a 21-point, 10-rebound, 2-steal performance. He shot 9 of 18 from the floor. He hit the three that put the Warriors up two with 26 seconds left. He was, by every measure, the best player on the floor when it mattered.
He was also playing with a legitimate chip on his shoulder. Lendeborg went undrafted in the 2026 draft after a strong senior season at UAB, then signed a two-way deal with the Warriors. He was not supposed to be the guy who ended the tournament with the trophy. But he outworked Boozer, outshot Boozer, and got the last word.
Give Lendeborg credit. Summer League MVPs do not always translate to real regular season careers. Just ask Isaiah Miller and Alonzo Brown. But the Warriors think Lendeborg has a real chance to be a rotation player as a rookie. His shooting has been the pleasant surprise of camp. He hit 34 percent from three across his eight Summer League games, which is exactly the number Golden State needs from him to justify real minutes.
Boozer is going to be great. Nobody doubts that. But he is going to hear about Lendeborg’s quote every time he steps on a court against the Warriors for the next decade. That is the beauty of Summer League drama in July. It carries.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
