The Golden State Warriors are firing on all cylinders after dropping their first three games of the season. The Miami Heat became the latest victims of a team riding a six-game winning streak, led by no other than Stephen Curry and one of the season's biggest surprises, 24-year-old rookie Yaxel Lendeborg. Hall of Famer and Warriors legend Chris Mullin sat down with HoopsHype to discuss the keys to Golden State's recent surge, Curry's remarkable longevity, his memories of the iconic Run TMC era and more.
What have you liked so far in the NBA? Any teams that have really caught your eye?
Chris Mullin: Probably off the top, Memphis has caught my eye quite a bit. Pleasant surprise. But the NBA, right now, it's been super cool watching these teams gel early on, and we've had some injuries early on, which is unfortunate, but that
always opens up opportunities for other players. But I'm really impressed, just across the board, with the competitive balance; it just seems like every night, there are great star matchups. I think a bunch of teams have a chance; that's exciting. I just think it's so many talented teams on a given night, and if you don't play your best game, you're going to get beat.
Yaxel Lendeborg has had such a pretty exciting start with the Warriors. What do you like the most about his game?
CM: He's changed, I think, the trajectory of this team already. Coming into the season, I think that with Jimmy Butler, Moses Moody starting on the injured list, the plan was just to tread water till they get back and hang around. But all of a sudden, with Yaxel playing at such a high level, I think the narrative has changed a little bit. There's been some other teams that have struggled a little bit with injuries and things like that. They can all of a sudden... right now they're in fifth place. They can maybe make some separation there. And obviously Stephen Curry's been phenomenal, but Yaxel, I think, he's been the one guy that's been better and quicker than people expected. The Warriors' offseason acquisitions have been phenomenal; they've played great. But Yaxel, when you talk about Cam Boozer, AJ Dybantsa, all great players. But Yaxel, probably after eight or nine games, has played better than anybody. He'd probably get the Rookie of the Year award right now. And quite frankly, if the Warriors keep winning and he plays like this, he'll be in the All-Star game! He's playing that well. He really is. He's averaging 21.0 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 4.1 assists, and shooting almost 50 percent from the field and 40 percent from three. Who knows what's going to happen; if the Warriors win enough games, he'll be in All-Star consideration for sure. And I think he's going to be a perennial All-Star and just an All-NBA type performer moving forward consistently.
Any other young player whose game you really like so far?
CM: Cam Boozer has been, I mentioned that what a big surprise Memphis' Ty Jerome has been; he has played great basketball, but Boozer has been really, really good, really impressive. Already put up a triple-double. AJ Dybantsa started on the injured list because of his ankle, but he's really impressive. I haven't seen Darryn Peterson in Utah yet. I know him; I watched him in Kansas, and he's a talented player as well. So, this rookie class is really talented, and all those guys, those top guys we mentioned, their teams are really relying on them to help them win, and they got big-time roles, and they're coming through. So, it's been impressive.
The Warriors had a rough start to the season, but they've bounced back so well with six straight wins and impressive comebacks against the Lakers and Suns. What's been clicking for them?
CM: Yeah, I mean Steph's been outrageous, just incredible, averaging 32.4 points and shooting 48% from three during his five-game win streak... Just amazing; he's been truly amazing. Then Yaxel, off the charts good, and Brandin Podziemski has been really, really good, and then their bench has been the story, really. When Steph and Draymond Green go to the bench, Charles Bassey, De'Anthony Melton, and Brandon Williams have played great basketball. Will Richard... They've got a bunch of role players that have performed during those non-Steph minutes. They have really either increased the lead if there is one or, if there's not one, taken away that deficit and just flipped the game's momentum. So I think those offseason acquisitions have been a story. It's becoming a story now, but I think in the offseason the talk was that the Warriors did nothing to their roster. They just drafted Yaxel, and they're basically the same team with two injured players. And that's been far from the story during this six-game win streak. It has been the exact opposite, actually.
The Lakers, for example, are struggling significantly when Luka Doncic is on the bench.
CM: The stars are stars. It's always going to look different. But the Warriors, like, for instance, Brandon Williams, they haven't had a player like him in years with that speed. So, just the fact that he's so different than what what they have on the roster, it just changes the game. Bassey is a lob threat, shot blocker, big athletic five. They haven't had that in a while. So, all these factors, and Yaxel with his size, these are players the Warriors haven't had recently, and all of a sudden they have really changed things around here pretty quickly.
What amazes you most about Curry's longevity, and how many more years do you think he can still play at this level?
CM: Probably as long as he wants, because all the things that he does, he works out in the offseason, and he's made some modifications to it, so it kind of preserves his body a bit, but the production and the efficiency, it seems to be going up! During this win streak, his numbers are just off the charts, I said 48 from the field, and 47 from the field from the three. He scored 44, 31, 33... Truly amazing. But with Steph, it's the preparation. It's the discipline, the work ethic. Really amazing, and then, he's Steph; he just loves it so much. I think that's what keeps him going. He loves to perform. He loves to compete. And then he knows that feeling. So, he's got the will to prepare to win. Everyone has the will to win when the game starts. But the guys that have the will to prepare to win in the offseason and the off days and the days you're tired to get your treatment, all those different things that have to go into being prepared for 7:00 p.m., Steph Curry does it as good as anybody ever has.
You played against other Hall of Famers like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird... How do you think Steph would do back in your day?
CM: He'd do just fine. He'd do just what he's just what he's doing now. Obviously, over the decades, the game changes and morphs into different areas and things like that, but for players like Steph, it doesn't matter. They're just great basketball players, and that's true throughout the history of the game. Everything changes, but the fundamentals of greatness, the fundamentals of winning, remain the same.
With all the threes, the spacing, and the fast pace in today's NBA, how much fun would Run TMC have had today? How many points do you think you guys would be putting up?
CM: I think we averaged about 118 then, and we weren't shooting threes. So, I don't know. We'll be up in the 120s somewhere. Maybe 125, 130. We played a very similar style, but we didn't shoot as many threes. So, that would be added to the mix. What would be taken out would probably be free throw attempts, because when you're shooting jump shots, you don't get fouled as much. But that would be super cool. Towards the end of my career, the spacing, the three-point line started coming in a little bit, but obviously, I mean, it's changing every year. I mean, the Warriors, I looked them up the other day because they were on such a hot streak to start this season. So I think they had 116 after seven games. That was the most. I was like, what must have been one of those great teams... It was last year's team, which wasn't a great team, but the number of threes just keeps increasing.
Yeah, I believe the 2015 Warriors would rank dead last in three-point attempts in today's NBA.
CM: Yeah. So that's it just shows you how it just changes year by year. But the key is really is to balance that out, not not be relying on one facet of the game. Now, of course, threes are going to dominate, but you definitely want to mix in a fair amount of fast-break points and some free throws to balance it out. And then probably the biggest factor is you creating high-quality three-point shots, or are you just launching, you know, threes? So, getting it within the rhythm of the offense, trying to touch the paint, that's probably the key component to generating a good offense, off the dribble, off the post up, or like a roll threat to the rim so you collapse the defense, and that's where the real high-quality rhythm three-point shots are. So, the teams that offensively can get into the paint first, no matter how you do it, whether it be off the dribble, with a roller to collapse a defense, or even a post-up, those are the teams that are going to create high-quality shots and shoot a bit better percentage from the three-point line.
And last question, I gotta ask you about the late Don Nelson. Do you think he would have a blast today coaching in today's NBA?
CM: No question. He's up there [in Heaven] hanging out, looking down, laughing, and saying, 'This is my vision.'
He's like, 'I told all of you'
CM: Yeah, exactly! He's saying, 'This is what I saw 30 years ago.' I'm sure he's super proud of Steph Curry watching him. Nellie was a great friend of mine. I loved playing for him as a coach. We worked together when I was the GM. He came back to coach again. So, I was very fortunate and blessed to call him a friend, a mentor, and my coach. And the most fun I had playing in the NBA was playing for Don Nelson, and I give him all the credit in the world for my success.
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This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: Chris Mullin Q&A: Yaxel Lendeborg is going to be a perennial All-Star
