As Yaxel Lendeborg boarded the bus to play in his first-ever NBA Summer League game in Las Vegas last month, even he couldn’t quite believe all the steps leading him to that moment. He hadn’t even watched the league’s summer showcase until last season, when he tuned in to watch Dallas Mavericks rookie sensation Cooper Flagg.

A year later, Lendeborg was preparing to take the floor, an “emotional” moment for a young man still trying to comprehend how his life led him to this point.

“When we were going to the game in Vegas, I was about to cry on the bus,” Lendeborg told The Athletic last month. “Like, this is crazy. I’m about to play in the summer league in Vegas in front of a bunch of people … Three or four tears kind of like dripped from the eye, but I was on a bus with a bunch of guys. They don’t even know me. They barely know me, so I can’t just be crying for no reason.”

Lendeborg’s play — leading the Golden State Warriors to a NBA Summer League championship and earning tournament MVP honors — has created joy within the organization since his arrival in June. He has showcased an NBA-ready ability to hit outside shots after helping lead Michigan to a national championship in April. He has an easy-going personality and has handled the spotlight with ease during his first few months as a pro. But the 23-year-old big man admits he had to grow into that confidence.

“This is my first year actually going through having a full year of confidence, I guess you could say,” Lendeborg said. “I’ve never been a confident kid. So, actually having this time to believe in myself —  it means a lot to me, and I’m trying my best to not lose that no matter what goes on.”

Lendeborg subscribes to the idea that “pressure isn’t real,” a mindset inspired by a LeBron James’ quote that has helped him navigate an increasingly bright spotlight. The intensity will be picking up soon as Lendeborg enters his first NBA training camp with the Warriors counting on him to pay immediate returns on their draft investment. But in order to understand Lendeborg’s story and where he came from, it’s important to understand the years-long journey it took for him to find himself.

Lendeborg’s journey from a community college in Yuma, Ariz. to UAB and eventual national championship at Michigan has been well-documented. The Athletic wrote about the strong bond Lendeborg has with his mom, Yissel Raposo. But Lendeborg is secure enough in his journey to acknowledge there were times he didn’t think he would ever get to this level.

“It’s happened every year,” he said. “Every single year. Like, more than once every year. [At] UAB I literally had moments where I’m crying in the locker room like, “I quit. I can’t do this no more. I’ve used up all my luck.”

Lendeborg stayed the course, though. Looking back, he says there are three reasons he never quit: his mother, his grandfather and the people who invested in him along the way.

“It’s so much to play for and so much to give up if I actually quit,” he said. “Just having that in the back of my mind definitely kind of helped me out and just the people — just those guys — they really, really helped me out. I really love having people in my circle that are actually willing to spend an extra hour or two talking to me and making sure my mental headspace is right.”

Lendeborg believes the confidence he was searching for finally started to blossom once he reached Michigan. When he started practicing with his new teammates, he was reminded just how talented he was and that he could still stand out while playing alongside five-star recruits.

“I started feeling like, ‘Yeah, maybe I am good enough to play here,’” he said. “That kind of clicked a little bit for me, and then, once it started getting to like I’m getting down on myself because I’m not doing as good as I want. Those guys are like, Man, come on. You’re the No. 1 player in the country … And it’s like, damn, if you guys think that, then why don’t I think that? After that, it just kind of flipped and just became, ‘I am that good. I just got to act like it.’”

Lendeborg said the next breakthrough happened last November when the Wolverines were in the Players Era Tournament in Las Vegas and he put together a strong three-game stretch.

“I’m like, ‘Man, I just did it at the highest level,’” he said. “That’s really where it was like, ‘this is me, I can do this.’ And I started talking a little differently, acting a little differently, confidence was at an all-time high. From that moment on, everything just kept increasing for me.”

Lendeborg’s profile will only increase as his game continues growing. His on-court success and off-court comfort have already made him one of the Warriors’ most intriguing players, and that popularity will only increase if he helps Golden State win.

For his part, the young forward is trying to take his growing fame in stride. He still doesn’t see himself the way the rest of the world does because he’s still coming to grips with the fact that he has become the player he could only dream about when he was younger.

“As far as the expectations and everything that’s going around me, it’s like I’m new to this,” he said. “So, I haven’t been living this role my entire life, this just now became who I am. So, I’m just happy-go lucky about everything. I’m just smiling through it all. Obviously, I have people that don’t like me or don’t like whatever I say, how I play, all of that stuff, so it’s like whatever. Everyone’s going to have their opinion. And for me, it’s just like, pressure isn’t real.”

Every rookie goes through struggles, but Lendeborg’s journey seems to suggest he’s ready for whatever comes next. The little kid who wondered if he would ever reach this level has turned into one of the most promising rookies in the 2026 class.

“Man, I don’t think he’ll believe me if I tell him anything like this,” Lendeborg said of the message he would have for his younger self. “I know he’ll think I’m very cool. Like, very, very cool. We’ll be using yourself in a video game. Looking up to me as a role model, looking up to me as somebody that he doesn’t think can fathom, he won’t even be able to fathom how much we went through and how much we like sacrifice and the fact that it all worked out. I feel like he’ll probably think it will be like a movie script or something like that, you know? But it’s all real.”

The financial gap between England and the rest of Europe is stark.

Premier League clubs have spent £2.14bn this summer, compared with £780m in Serie A, £515m in La Liga, £505m in the Bundesliga and £412m in Ligue 1.

That means England’s top flight has already spent more than those four other major European leagues combined.

Chelsea are leading the way, having committed £348m so far this summer, comfortably ahead of every other Premier League club. Tottenham are next, on £228m, with Arsenal and Manchester City both on £151m. Chelsea, Tottenham and City have all broken their club transfer record during the window.

But the spending is not confined to the elite. Aston Villa, Brentford, Brighton and Leeds United have also made their most expensive signing ever this summer. Coventry City, Hull City and Ipswich Town, the three promoted clubs, complete the list, underlining how widely spending power now stretches across the division.

Taking the whole of 2026 into account, and including Crystal Palace‘s signing of Jorgen Strand Larsen in January, 11 of the 20 Premier League clubs have broken their transfer record during the calendar year.

Two weeks ago, The Athletic surveyed Los Angeles Kings fans on a range of topics related to the state of the franchise.

This is where we want to hear your viewpoints. Some respondents went beyond voting to share their opinions, and that is always welcome. No survey is perfect, but we hope the results provide a snapshot of Kings fans’ attitudes about six weeks out from the team’s season opener against the Colorado Avalanche.

More than 850 readers weighed in, and I provided some analysis of the results to each survey question. Without further delay, let’s examine how the survey turned out.

Hockey Hall of Famer Luc Robitaille’s stewardship of the Kings has been an increasingly hot topic as he nears the end of a decade as team president. The team’s inability to win a playoff series after emerging from a three-year retrenching stretch has left fans feeling uneasy about Robitaille’s direction and worried about the prospect of the club being trapped in mediocrity.

More than 80 percent of survey respondents lacked confidence in Robitaille. Does that reflect the feelings of the entire fan base? Or is it more representative of a passionate, vocal minority of fans? It’s hard to say. However, it’s clear that many supporters blame Robitaille for their frustration with the Kings’ current direction.

General manager Ken Holland is also in the Hall of Fame (as a builder), but the 70-year-old executive hasn’t won over many Kings fans. The start to his tenure in Los Angeles was rocky, as Holland’s decision to sign Brian Dumoulin and Cody Ceci to replace Vladislav Gavrikov and Jordan Spence on defense made those who feared a downgrade look like sages.

The trade for Artemi Panarin will help define Holland’s tenure, and some smaller moves still have the potential to pan out. Getting Brandt Clarke signed well into the future might become a feather in Holland’s cap. He’s a win-now GM working for a franchise with the same mindset, and that has made more than 70 percent of respondents wary of his fingerprints on the club’s major moves, but the distrust is less fervent for Holland than for Robitaille.

The results reflect the disconnect between the organization and its fans. It’s clear in this survey that fans are willing to withstand a full-blown rebuild and the lengthy downturn that often accompanies such decisions. But it also raises questions about whether the disparity in the survey results is shared by the broad majority of Kings fans. Will they still buy tickets to watch a bottom-five team for a couple seasons if that means a chance to draft a franchise cornerstone? Would apathy take root over a prolonged stretch of losing?

Far more favorably viewed was the decision to bring in Peter Laviolette, a proven head coach with an extensive track record. The 61-year-old has had a winning record with six previous NHL franchises, and his teams often enjoy a significant boost soon after he takes over — though it’s also fair to point out that Laviolette’s teams have struggled to sustain their initial success.

The most interesting part of this survey response is respondents’ generally positive opinion of Laviolette, even if a healthy segment of the fan base favors a change in direction. But if the franchise is determined to win now, it makes sense to hire a coach with a strong track record of maximizing rosters in his first season with new teams and who will be eager to break his own run of first-round futility. If the Kings didn’t feel this way, “Lavy” wouldn’t have been the coach to hire.

Is this where we spin Holland’s summer as deserving of a passing grade? Nearly half of respondents gave him a “C.” Does that mean landing Mats Zuccarello and Erik Haula in free agency should be met with a shrug? Just about a quarter of voters are more bullish on Holland’s offseason, and maybe the decisions to lock up Clarke, re-sign Scott Laughton and bring back Corey Perry to fill out the lineup are enough to give a higher grade.

Then again, 219 respondents gave a thumbs-down — including 46 that awarded a fail.

Tracking these over a few days, the voting was close to an even split early on, but there was a gradual surge of optimism for Quinton Byfield’s chances to break the 60-point barrier after scoring 20 goals and 55 points in 2023-24, 23 goals and 54 points in 2024-25, and 24 goals and 49 points in 2025-26. It makes sense to believe the 23-year-old is in for an offensive uptick now that Anže Kopitar is no longer there to block his path toward becoming the Kings’ top center. Now, can Byfield be a true 1C in the NHL?

A strong plurality of respondents believe Byfield’s point total will jump into the 60s. That’s a modest prediction, and maybe it reflects fans’ trepidation that he won’t reach the level of stardom that’s long been predicted for the athletic 6-foot-5 pivot. He turns 24 on Wednesday, on the cusp of his prime years. It matters who he will play with regularly, but nearly a quarter of respondents expect him to level up for a career year with at least 70 points. If the Kings are going to do any real damage in 2026-27, they’ll need him to be more than a 50-point player.

Looks like you remember those early days when Adrian Kempe, the Swede with the silky mitts and the undercurrent of a chippy demeanor, struggled mightily when he played in the middle. He has flourished and landed a huge contract since moving to right wing, but let’s see in the early days of training camp whether Laviolette is good with Haula or another player as his No. 2 center.

Kempe has been the Kings’ top scorer for the last three seasons, after Kopitar’s long stretch as the team’s lead point producer. Kempe’s career high is 75 points. Panarin has scored more than 75 points in nine of his 11 NHL seasons. Logical results here. Readers, you know your stuff.

When voting began, the results were evenly split, but they gradually swung in the direction of Perry being welcomed back after playing the first five-plus months of last season with the Kings. The jersey matters more, and Perry was still effective enough to have the Tampa Bay Lightning interested in acquiring him for the postseason. Many fans will happily cheer the famed net nuisance when he scores — or at least do so grudgingly.

The sharp spike in the NHL salary cap and the highly lucrative contracts negotiated this summer have had fans reassessing the earning power of players, and what constitutes a “good” deal. The 23-year-old Clarke took another step forward on the Kings’ defense last season and became one of this summer’s restricted free agents who got paid. But most readers here feel his contract will age well.

Will Drew Doughty succeed Kopitar in wearing the “C” for the Kings? He’s long been among the team leaders after becoming a regular alternate captain in 2016-17. A third of you feel it’s time for the 36-year-old to assume the role, but Kempe and Mikey Anderson also have strong support. The most surprising result is that 20 percent of respondents said there shouldn’t be a captain.

Doughty is entering the final year of his contract, and there is mutual agreement on the defenseman playing out the season without an extension in place. He has communicated his desire to stay with the Kings after 18 seasons with the team. Nearly half of you want him to be a one-team legacy player like Kopitar and Dustin Brown. But the other half are prepared to sever that bond with Doughty, either during the season or after it.

Fans will believe. And they can do so realistically in a Pacific Division that’s routinely called the worst in the NHL. (Never mind that there’s been a Pacific team playing in the last four Stanley Cup Finals). But will 90 points be enough to make the playoffs like last season? Or will more be necessary this time around, and will the Kings improve enough to reach the postseason?

These responses were interesting. On one hand, it’s not unexpected. Attending a hockey game is expensive; between tickets, food, parking and perhaps some merchandise, the live-game experience can easily cost hundreds of dollars. Respondents who said they don’t attend any Kings home games likely include Kings fans outside of Southern California who only have the opportunity to see the team in person when the Kings are on the road.

But the franchise averaged 17,435 attendance for their home contests in 2025-26, a slight increase from the previous season. Of course, those numbers reflect paid admission, and the announced numbers often don’t jibe with the actual bodies in the arena. Still, according to these results, quite a few readers make regular trips to Crypto.com Arena for game night.

Crypto is loud. Or I’m just old. Both can be true. While Kings games can sometimes resemble a night at the club more than a professional hockey game, most respondents seem to take the Will Ferrell, Steve Carell and Snoop Dogg video exhortations and regular techno music intrusions in stride. Some may already be hearing lively public address announcer Trevor Rabone pumping them up in their heads. And while Eric Cartman may have “died” once, he will live in eternity at Kings games thanks to massive fans and “South Park” co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.

Couldn’t do a Kings survey without this question. Looking back, I probably should have included the roughly 13-year period when the franchise’s primary colors united purple and black, but these two sets of combinations have been the dominant color schemes across the Kings’ 59-year history. Black has been a staple of the Kings’ kits since Wayne Gretzky arrived in 1988, and that has lasted far longer than the 21 seasons they wore the original purple and gold.

While they’ve reintroduced the Gretzky-era logo full-time and brought back an update of the original crown logo for the current alternate third jersey, the Kings have been determined to keep black in their color scheme. They won both of the franchise’s Stanley Cups on home ice in black, and they were mostly bad in the late 1960s, ’70s and ’80s. But never underestimate nostalgia, or how the purple-and-gold combination pops in an era where bold sports colors are coming back into style.

The vote here mirrors two distinct eras of Kings hockey, and perhaps the team’s fan base, over nearly six decades.