The Warriors have selected Yaxel Lendeborg with the 11th pick in the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft tonight. But before they selected the forward from Michigan, an interaction between the Warriors’ general manager, Mike Dunleavy, and their owner, Joe Lacob, went viral on social media.
In the video, the general manager can be seen having an intense exchange with the owner moments before they picked Yaxel Lendeborg in the first round.
Warriors owner Joe Lacob and GM Mike Dunleavy appear to disagree on what to do with the pick 😅 pic.twitter.com/LGKd0hvQav
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) June 24, 2026
Subsequently, Mike Dunleavy spoke to the media and clarified the details of this animated dispute between the two members of the Warriors’ top leadership.
“We got into it about the best golf course in San Francisco, and he didn’t agree with me, which, you know, is all in the eye of the beholder,” joked Dunleavy.
“But no, I mean the other guy that you brought up and the other play like this is a really strong draft class, so I felt like once we got to picks nine, 10, and 11, we were going to be anxious to see who falls there.”
“But we felt like at 11, no matter what happened, we were going to get a good player. So, as far as the discussion with Joe and me, yeah, I mean, I think at that point there’s probably some talks about trades and things like that, but ultimately we were all in agreement to land on taking the Yaxel,” Dunleavy further added.
This led to a follow-up question from a reporter on the types of trade calls that the Warriors took or were making during the draft process.
“There wasn’t anything major, but when you’re on the clock, you get calls, you know, and I think from our standpoint, you know, we knew we were going to pick Yaxel at 11. He was the guy.”
“But you just want to flush him out. Make sure you’re not missing anything that falls in your lap or makes a ton of sense. So that’s what we were doing.”
“And I think I think Joe was like, ‘Come on, just just let’s go ahead and pick the guy.’ And I said, ‘Joe, we got we have time. They give you five minutes.'”
“And so he was just getting a little anxious about us taking Yaxel. And the good thing was that because we were on the clock, nobody could swoop in and take him ahead of us. So, I was willing to be patient about it.”
So it was just the anxiety of the upcoming pick that came to the surface in the animated exchange, nothing else. When asked about the overall role of the Warriors’ owner in the draft process, Dunleavy spoke his mind freely.
“Yeah, he’s great. He’s so into it, and I think this year, you know, winding down the college season, knowing where we were at as a team, I think he really focused in on the college stuff and watched it and knew a lot of these guys.”
“And I think coming out at night, he’s really happy. And I told him, I go, ‘Joe, no matter what you do, you know, we’re going to get criticized. It doesn’t matter if we pick young, old, good, bad, short, or tall.’ And he goes, ‘I don’t know. I don’t think so.'”
“Joe, trust me. And then sure enough, he goes, ‘Can you believe what this guy said?’ So, yeah, he’s really excited about the pick and kind of who we got and how we think he can help,” concluded Dunleavy.
The Warriors have drafted a 6’9 forward who won the NCAA championship with the Michigan Wolverines this year. He averaged 15.1 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 3.2 assists through the 2025-26 season, where the 23-year-old shot 51.5% from the field and 37.2% from the three-point line.
Clearly, the Warriors have nothing to worry about, and the video was just the pre-draft jitters coming to the surface for Joe Lacob that Mike Dunleavy navigated fairly well.
