Golden State Warriors rookie Yaxel Lendeborg lost respect for Los Angeles Lakers superstar Luka Doncic after a tense duel during Wednesday’s season opener. Lendeborg played solid defense against Doncic.According to ESPN, the rookie held the six-time All-Star to 0-for-4 shooting in the first half as his primary defender.
After a call favored Doncic, Lendeborg talked trash to Doncic, and the two got into a back-and-forth. Lendeborg was assessed a technical foul after things escalated following his foul on Doncic.
Doncic hit a half-court shot to beat the buzzer at the half and chirped at Lendeborg. It became a talking point after the game, and several players, including Lendeborg and Doncic, addressed it in the post-game press conference.
The Warriors rookie gave a more fiery reaction to their tussle, saying:
“I got to see what the NBA is, man. A lot of flopping, a lot of crying to the ref, man. Interesting first game, for sure… I had a lot of respect for him [Doncic]… but then being in there firsthand, just watching all the whining and complaining, I lost all respect for the man.”
Lendeborg said Doncic’s complaining frustrated him more than the fouls called on him. He also called out Doncic for feeling like he did something by getting the call and talking trash to him.
It was an eight-point game when things got chippy between Doncic and Lendeborg. The Lakers looked completely different after that point and put the game away in the third, outscoring the Warriors 36-16. Los Angeles won 127-105. Doncic finished with 28 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, and three steals. Meanwhile, Lendeborg had a decent NBA debut, tallying 12 points and three rebounds on 5-for-11 shooting.
Luka Doncic gave a more lighthearted reaction than Yaxel Lendeborg
The trash talk between Luka Doncic and Yaxel Lendeborg seemed to affect the rookie more.
While Lendeborg complained about Doncic’s “whining,” the Lakers guard joked about avoiding technical foul trouble, one of his goals this year.
“I mean, he was talking crazy,” Doncic said. “But, you know, I wasn’t trying to talk back. This season, I’m trying to not get techs. It was the first time that was not a double tech, cause I didn’t say nothing. So I’m working on it. But as you see, I think it worked great.”
Meanwhile, Warriors coach Steve Kerr wasn’t a fan of the officiating. He called it ridiculous that the refs called a tech on Lendeborg and not on Doncic. Kerr also said no other league would have called the three fouls on Lendeborg.
The Lakers and Warriors will meet again on Oct. 30 in San Francisco. All eyes will be on Luka Doncic and Yaxel Lendeborg’s duel in that clash, especially after the war of words that carried over into the post-game press conference from the Warriors rookie.
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