Every rookie experiences it: the “welcome to the league” moment. For Golden State Warriors forward Eric Paschall, that moment came during the team's first preseason game of the 2019-20 season against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Paschall was the first player to come into the game off the bench. His reward? Well, Paschall had to guard LA's prized offseason acquisition Anthony Davis (per Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area):

“My welcome to the NBA moment was definitely in my first preseason game,” the Warriors rookie said on Howard Beck's “The Full 48” podcast. “I didn't expect to be the first person in off the bench. So coach Kerr's like, ‘Eric!' He laughs in my face and just goes, ‘You got AD.'

Guarding a multidimensional, stretch big like Anthony Davis is challenging enough. But Eric Paschall also had to switch onto LeBron James.

Paschall said guarding LeBron helped him understand right away just how much stronger and more physical the NBA would be, a learning lesson for the future.

“I played all right,” Paschall, who scored 11 points himself, said. “LeBron bullied me for the first time. I thought I was a strong guy until I met him, so that was kind of crazy. But the next time, I bumped him just so he doesn't bully me again.

“I took a foul on that one, but I feel like I wound up playing well against him.”

Warriors fans have not had much to be optimistic about during an injury-riddled season that resulted in the Dubs finishing with the worst record in the NBA.

However, Paschall has been a bright spot. The former Villanova star averaged 14.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 60 games, and he figures to be a crucial bench piece for the Warriors as they hope to rebound with a fully healthy squad next season.