The Golden State Warriors got the chance to see their No. 11 overall selection in the 2026 NBA Draft make his league debut on Wednesday, Oct. 21.
Rookie forward Yaxel Lendeborg got a taste of the NBA and earned his first 'welcome to the league' moment during the season-opening matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers, who defeated the Warriors, 127-105.
Lendeborg played 29 minutes and scored 12 points on 5-for-11 shooting, adding three rebounds, two assists and a steal. However, the main lesson Lendeborg learned of the day is don't mess with Luka Dončić.
The rookie found himself guarding Dončić on multiple possessions during the game. Lendeborg accepted the challenge. He didn't back down, playing physical with the Lakers' All-Star and letting him hear
it, too.
That might have been where Lendeborg messed up. Dončić scored 28 points on 7-for-18 from the field and added eight rebounds and seven assists.
The two went at each other, especially in the first half. But Dončić had the last laugh at the end of the second quarter where he banked in a half court shot from about 50 feet to beat the buzzer. Going into the locker room, he had some words for Lendeborg.
Lendeborg, Luka react to the banter
Lendeborg even received a technical foul for his back-and-forth with Dončić. After the game, Lendeborg discussed what happened on the court with him and Dončić.
Lendeborg described his debut as "interesting."
As for Dončić, he said he lost respect for him.
"I had a lot of respect for him," Lendeborg said. "I didn't watch the NBA much. I just watched highlights, seeing him kill people all the time. But then being in there first hand, just watching him whining and complaining, I lost all respect, man. Like, that was awful.
"Like me getting frustrated, it's not about the foul being called, it's about him complaining the entire game. And then you get foul call. Congratulations, bro," Lendeborg added. "And then you talk to me, like you did something great, bro. Come on, now. It kind of threw me off for a little while, 'cause, you know, like I said, I had so much respect for him. Gone."
On Dončić's end, it was business as usual.
"I think everybody knows when somebody starts talking, it (brings out) a different me, so that was it," Dončić said in postgame interview with ESPN.
Later, he told reporters that Lendeborg "was talking crazy" and Dončić wasn't trying to talk back.
"This season I'm not trying to get techs, so it's the first time that that was not a double tech because I didn't say nothing," he added. "So I'm working on it. As you see, I think it worked great."
Warriors support Lendeborg's 1-on-1
Head coach Steve Kerr's message to Lendeborg: "Better days ahead."
"I loved the back and forth," Kerr told reporters. "Yaxel's a competitor. This was a great welcome to the NBA game for him, having to guard Luka, who's as tough to guard as anybody in the world. Having to learn about all the little tricks that exist in the NBA. He probably had three fouls that probably wouldn't be called fouls in any other league in the world, but it's the NBA, and he's got to learn this stuff."
"It's his first game," Kerr added. "He is an unbelievable young guy, and great talent, and it was a frustrating night for him, but a lesson well learned, and he'll get better from here."
For what it's worth, Kerr thought that Dončić and Lendeborg should have received double technical fouls for their back and forth banter. However, it was the rookie that got whistled.
Teammate Draymond Green encouraged him to keep talking and was honest when speaking to reporters about how Lendeborg should approach guarding Dončić for the rest of the season.
"Everyone's going to say 'you should not talk to Luka' and I disagree with that (expletive)," Green said. "1,000%. You (expletive) gonna talk to somebody, you talk until you can't (expletive) talk no more. And if he bust your ass, guess what? You gotta play him again three more times and you go back at his ass again. Then you see him the third time and you go back at his ass again."
Green said you have to earn respect in the league at the end of the day.
"If you start talking to someone, then you got yourself into a battle," Green said. "When I lose respect is when you start talking to someone and you realize 'oh I'm into a battle' and you stop. You keep going. You get all my respect."
Yaxel Lendeborg stats in NBA debut
- Points: 12
- Rebounds: 3
- Assists: 2
- Field goals: 5-for-11
- Steals: 1
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Yaxel Lendeborg rips Luka Dončić after debut: 'I lost all respect'
