Speaking to reporters after Golden State’s 115-108 loss to the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center on Wednesday, Nov. 11, Draymond Green said rookie Yaxel Lendeborg needs to recognize how much of the Warriors he can carry with Stephen Curry sidelined. The comments came after Curry exited the game in the first quarter and was later diagnosed with an oblique abdominal tear.
Green’s point was that Lendeborg had not yet grasped what the floor looks like when Curry is off it and Kevin Durant is on the bench — in those stretches, Green said, Lendeborg is “probably the best player on the floor.” Green said Lendeborg began attacking once he recognized it, and that the game turned for Golden State at that moment. He wants to see the rookie play that way as a matter of course, not as an occasional discovery.
Lendeborg answered the assignment on the night, leading all scorers with 25 points on 9-for-19 shooting while adding 10 rebounds. The No. 11 pick in the 2026 draft is averaging 21.7 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists while shooting 51.8 percent from the field.
The Warriors announced Thursday that Curry will be re-evaluated in two weeks, and ESPN’s Shams Charania has since reported that Curry is expected to miss closer to a month. Curry, 38, had been averaging 30.6 points on 50.3 percent shooting before leaving Wednesday’s game, which snapped Golden State’s eight-game winning streak.
Green Is Asking for More Than a Complementary Scorer
Green’s remark is not a compliment so much as a concrete ask. He wants Lendeborg to operate as the best player in the building rather than as a secondary scorer working alongside Curry, which is a different job than the one the rookie has held for 12 games.
The bet inside Green’s framing is that Lendeborg’s early production was real rather than a byproduct of defenses bending toward Curry. An absence measured in weeks rather than days is what tests that directly, and there is no longer a version of the schedule where the question gets deferred.
Curry’s Next Update Lands Around Nov. 26
The Warriors’ next concrete marker is Curry’s two-week re-evaluation, which falls around Nov. 26, shortly after Golden State hosts Sacramento on Nov. 25. No return date has been set, and the team has not specified Curry’s recovery beyond that initial checkpoint.
Sources: Draymond Green postgame press conference (Nov. 11, 2026), Golden State Warriors (team announcement)
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