Key Takeaways
- Yaxel Lendeborg said he "lost all respect" for Luka Doncic after trading trash talk with him throughout the Lakers' 127-105 opening-night win over the Warriors.
- Lendeborg drew a technical foul from referee James Capers for calling Doncic's pump-fake shooting foul "weak ass s---," and Doncic answered with a 48-foot halftime buzzer-beater before pointing and laughing at him.
- The Warriors rookie finished with 12 points in 29 minutes while guarding Doncic, who shot 7-of-18 but made all nine of his free throws to score 28 points.
- Steve Kerr called the technical on Lendeborg "kind of ridiculous" and chalked it up to rookie treatment, while Draymond Green encouraged Lendeborg to keep talking ahead of their next matchup on Oct. 30 in San Francisco.
Yaxel Lendeborg made his professional basketball debut with the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday (Oct. 21), and the experience fundamentally changed his perception of Los Angeles Lakers star player Luka Dončić.
As reported by ESPN, Lendeborg made his feelings on Dončić abundantly clear in a post-game interview, explaining that he “lost all respect” for him because of his behavior on the court. “I had a lot of respect for him [because] I didn’t really watch the NBA much,” he shared. “I just watched highlights and seen him kill people. But being in it firsthand, and seeing all the whining and complaining, I lost all respect.”
Lendeborg, who was selected with the 11th overall pick by the Warriors in the NBA draft this year, made his professional debut on Wednesday, facing off against the Lakers. Ultimately, the Lakers beat out the Warriors 127-105, and Lendeborg spent the majority of his time on the court defending against Dončiċ. In the second quarter, Dončiċ did a pump-fake that led Lendeborg into shooting a foul, and they traded words after the whistle.
“That was awful,” Lendeborg added. “Me getting frustrated, it’s not about the foul being called; it’s about him complaining the entire game.” Lendeborg appeared to call the move “weak ass shit” during the game, which prompted Dončiċ to laugh and clap in response. “You get the foul call. Congratulations, bro,” Lendeborg said. “Then you talk to me like you did something great. C’mon, dog. That shit is weak. It kind of threw me off because I have so much respect for him. Gone, man. Gone.”
Lendeborg was subbed out by Warriors coach Steve Kerr, but he was put back in to help the defensive efforts against Dončiċ. Eventually, they clashed again, which resulted in Lendeborg getting a technical. “I was telling him he sucks,” Lendeborg said of the second time they clashed. “He can’t score on me. You talk, but you can’t score on me. I said it the whole game. I said a couple cuss words, obviously. That’s why I got the technical. But I was letting him know.”
Kerr asserted that Dončiċ, who pointed and laughed at Lendeborg at multiple points during the game, was goading his opponent. “He kind of lured him in a little bit,” Kerr said. “I thought the single technical was ridiculous. They were jawing at each other. I think it was the words Yaxel used that got him the T. But then Luka makes the half-court shot and gets in his face. That should be a tech.”
