How Gonzaga's Graham Ike became the 'heartbeat' of Golden State's NBA Summer League championship team
· Yahoo Sports
Jul. 23—LAS VEGAS — Khalid Robinson wasn't on a scouting assignment for the Golden State Warriors when the NBA assistant drove across the San Francisco Bay Bridge last year to catch a local college basketball game.
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Not knowingly, at least.
An acquaintance was in town for the weekend and the Warriors were in the middle of an extended homestand, with no game-night obligations on Feb. 1. Robinson knew his friend wouldn't have much time to chat — he was tied up coaching Gonzaga from the visiting sideline during an emotionally-charged rivalry against Saint Mary's — but the young NBA assistant still took Mark Few up on his offer and made the short drive out to Moraga, Calif., during an off-night.
The Zags lost 62-58, adding another skid mark to an NCAA Tournament resume that was already teetering, but Robinson was enamored with GU's all-conference forward, who accounted for 41% of the team's scoring in a 24-point, eight-rebound performance against the Gaels.
"Unfortunately Gonzaga lost that game," Robinson said, "but Graham (Ike) had a huge game and I kind of just followed him and Gonzaga ever since."
It turns out the basketball world can have a funny sense of humor.
Fast-forward one year and Robinson is assigned to coach the Warriors at NBA Summer League. His starting five man during a three-game stint at the California Classic and six-game championship run at Las Vegas Summer League? Ike, the two-time college All-American who signed an Exhibit 10 contract with Golden State after going undrafted last month.
"I got a call from my agent ... (Golden State) was my last workout, so recency definitely played a part into it," Ike told The Spokesman-Review after Golden State's practice on July 10 at the Las Vegas Basketball Center. "But it was just great. I felt like there was no better option with what they were setting up, developing and then just the style of play and just the people I'd be able to learn from here. No doubt about it."
The perfect pairing, indeed.
Robinson, who works under Warriors coach Steve Kerr during the regular season, served as a traveling consultant for his full-time NBA boss two summers ago at the Paris Olympics. That's where Robinson crossed paths with Few, one of three assistants Kerr tabbed to be on his coaching staff during USA's gold-medal winning run.
Ike wasn't aware of the other unique connection between Gonzaga's coaching staff and Golden State's front office. Top assistant Brian Michaelson, who worked primarily with Ike and Gonzaga's frontcourt players, won an Oregon 4A high school championship with Warriors General Manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. at Portland's Jesuit High in 1999.
Dunleavy Jr. frequents college games in the Bay Area to get eyes on potential Warriors targets and watched Ike drop 24 points on Santa Clara weeks after Robinson saw him put up an identical number against Saint Mary's.
"You just never know in this small basketball world how things can shake out and what relationships might be," Ike said. "... "It's been amazing, just trying to learn as much as I can about the offense, about the style of play, about this lifestyle and the way things are. So far man I'm just like a sponge, soaking things up, just trying to enjoy every single day, be present and play winning basketball."
Few had some parting words for Ike before he left to join the Warriors for a preliminary Summer League training camp in San Francisco.
" 'Don't tiptoe into a bar fight,' " Ike said, relaying his coach's message to local media on June 29.
Not that the Warriors should've ever been concerned there.
Ike wasn't the timid type at Gonzaga, playing with a level of force, physicality and emotion that was unmatched by the opposition, and occasionally warranted intervention from officials. He didn't hesitate to bring the same passion and energy to Summer League, where the forward was consistently one of the team's top scorers and rebounders, not to mention one of the most commanding voices.
"He brings this high level of passion and communication and our team feeds off it," Robinson said. "He's kind of been a little bit of the heartbeat of the group."
A group that, last Sunday, captured Golden State's first Vegas Summer League title in 13 years when it prevailed against the Memphis Grizzlies in a back-and-forth affair at the Thomas & Mack Center. Draymond Green, who was frequently referred to as Golden State's "heartbeat" during the franchise's dynastic run, was on the last Warriors team to win in Vegas.
Even though Ike was entering a new environment, Golden State's coaching staff kept things simple with the rookie forward, giving him a set of instructions that weren't too hard to follow.
"Definitely just to be me, which is not a challenge at all," Ike said. "To continue to play hard, to have fun, enjoy the process, get the team extra possessions, play great defense and at the end of the day be me."
Ike was in Golden State's starting lineup all eight games and finished the California Classic/Vegas Summer League averaging 9.3 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists. That included a 10-point, 11-rebound double-double against former Gonzaga frontcourt mate Anton Watson and the Los Angeles Lakers in the semifinals, and a six-point, nine-rebound effort against Memphis in the championship.
"Graham does give you that kind of old school, on the block, he can score it around the paint," said Robinson, a former mid-major walk-on at Fordham. "I think he's also shown in Summer League his ability to get on the perimeter, make plays as far as it's a dribble handoff, he's making the right reads and then diving into the pocket.
"I think he gives you a little bit of both and I just love his overall energy and competitiveness and kind of the joy he plays with. He's just a really good human being and a guy you enjoy having around."
Golden State's Summer League squad featured three players who got minutes for Kerr in 2025-26 while Ike was wrapping up his college career in Spokane. It also included two college national champions: forward Yaxel Lendeborg (Michigan) and guard Will Richard (Florida).
Ike doesn't have a national title on his Wikipedia bio and he was picked up as an undrafted free agent only after the club used its first- and second-round selections on Lendeborg and Florida State guard Lajae Jones. It wouldn't have been obvious watching Summer League, though. The rookie forward on a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 contract was often the one getting Golden State organized, communicating defensive coverages and relaying instructions from the bench.
At one point during the second half of an 87-77 victory over the Knicks, Ike warned teammates about an elevator screen New York might try to use on a sideline out-of-bounds play.
"He's a great, great guy," Lendeborg said of Ike. "Him, his physicality, his voice that he brings is something that brings and provides energy for everybody. I'm trying to get him a little more post iso, post touches. I get he likes playing in a system, but I want him to get his own, too. I'm going to try to continue to work that out and see how we can continue to play off that."
Lendeborg, possibly looking out for his chemistry and friendship with Ike, held off on mentioning Michigan's 101-61 blowout of Gonzaga last November at the Players Era Festival while the two were in Vegas at Summer League.
"Sensitive topic," Lendeborg laughed. "We kind of busted their behind real bad, so I don't want to bring that up."
The two were just fine taking turns with the trophy awarded to Golden State on a podium in Vegas after the triumph last Sunday.
In a social media video shared by the NBA's official X account, Ike was pictured cradling the trophy wearing a freshly-unboxed Summer League champions shirt.
"Is it heavy?" someone asked.
"Nah, we do this for breakfast," Ike responds. "... Winning is addicting. You never get enough of this."
It's still unknown where Ike will be getting his next minutes as a pro basketball player. Golden State fans immediately warmed to the Gonzaga product — many of them pleading on social media for the Warriors to convert his Exhibit 10 to a two-way contract, noting the lack of young talent at the center position. That's one option, or Golden State could send him to Santa Cruz to play exclusively with the organization's G League team.
"I'm an optimistic person, but I'm also a realist at the same time," Ike said. "We have to live in the moment. Who knows how tomorrow will go, so in order for tomorrow to be right I have to take care of today. That's all I'm focused on."
Ike enters his pro career with nothing but fond memories of the three seasons he spent at Gonzaga, where, after transferring from Wyoming he became a two-time All-American, won WCC Player of the Year honors in 2025-26 and surpassed 2,000 career points and 1,000 rebounds.
"It was ineffable, it's hard to describe," Ike said. "It was such a great feeling to build so many memories, won so many games, championships, learned so much. I had a great experience. It was everything I asked for and then some."