Steph Curry's Playful Vow to Warriors Rookie

A new Warriors draftee confessed he grew up rooting against Stephen Curry. The four-time champion answered with a grin and a promise to change his mind.

A confession that traveled fast

Draft night usually delivers tears, hugs and rehearsed gratitude. Golden State's newest forward decided to offer something a little more honest. When the Warriors used the 11th overall pick of the 2026 NBA Draft on Michigan's Yaxel Lendeborg, the incoming rookie sat down with reporters and admitted he had not always cheered for the franchise he was about to join. Asked about his new surroundings, he reached back to childhood and said plainly that he once could not stand Stephen Curry.

The roots of that grudge, according to Heavy, trace to the 2016 NBA Finals, when Curry's Warriors squared off against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Lendeborg's household pulled hard for Cleveland, and his personal hero was Kyrie Irving, the guard whose late-game heroics helped end Cleveland's long title drought that summer. Seen through that lens, Curry was the rival, the face of the team standing between his favorite player and a championship. It was a candid, self-deprecating story, and on social media-like-reopens-fedez-wound) it spread quickly.

Curry leans into the joke

Plenty of veterans might have ignored a rookie's old dislike or fired back with something competitive. Curry chose neither. Heavy reported that when Lendeborg posted a celebratory message about being drafted, Curry replied with an upbeat note welcoming him to the Bay Area and vowing, with a laughing emoji, to work hard to become the rookie's new favorite player.

The response captured the relaxed confidence that has long defined Curry's public image. He has spent more than a decade as the centerpiece of a dynasty, and he can afford to treat a story like this as exactly what it is, a bit of fun rather than a slight.

From rival to teammate

Lendeborg, for his part, made clear there is no lingering resentment. He told reporters the two had already met before draft night and described Curry as a genuine, down-to-earth person. The chance to actually share a locker room with a player he once viewed as the enemy, he suggested, now ranks among the most exciting parts of joining Golden State.

Key threads of the story include:

Lendeborg was selected 11th overall in the 2026 NBA Draft.
He grew up a Cavaliers and Kyrie Irving fan during the 2016 Finals.
Curry answered the old grudge with a playful welcome and a promise.
The rookie now calls Curry a mentor he is eager to learn from.

A glimpse of the Warriors' culture

Beyond the lighthearted headline, the exchange offered a small window into how Golden State operates as it tries to extend its competitive window around an aging core. Per Heavy, Curry's easy reply reflected an organization that blends championship pedigree with a welcoming, low-ego environment, the kind of culture that can help young players settle in quickly.

For Lendeborg, a childhood dislike has flipped into an unexpected apprenticeship under one of the greatest shooters the sport has ever produced. For Warriors fans, it was a reminder of why Curry remains one of the league's most beloved figures, a superstar comfortable enough to laugh at himself and generous enough to make a nervous rookie feel at home. What happens on the floor will be decided over the coming season, but the relationship is already off to a warm start.