Yaxel Lendeborg made headlines after trash-talking Luka Doncic in his NBA debut against the Lakers. The rookie told Doncic that he couldn’t score on him and later said that he’d lost “all respect” for the Lakers’ star. Now, the two are set to go up against one another again, and Stephen A. Smith has picked sides.
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“This is basketball, y’all. Lendeborg was saying, ‘yo, you supposed to be that superstar. I’m a rookie. What you whining for calls for?” Smith said on a national broadcast. “What you looking for help from the officials for? What I’m going to be interested in seeing from Luka tonight, who is notorious for complaining to the officials all the time.”
“Are you going to shut up and just go out there and try to bust Yaxel Lendeborg’s a**? Are you going to do that? Or are you going to be looking for the officials?” Smith echoed the same critique that came from Yaxel Lendeborg post-game.
After his first game, the rookie argued that Doncic was “complaining the entire game.” Indeed, Doncic has often been spotted arguing with the referees about foul calls.
In the past, defending against the Slovenian player has been incredibly difficult due to his tendency to draw fouls after physical contact. The same issues surfaced when Lendeborg was assigned Doncic. Eventually, the two exchanged words; Lendeborg told him, “he sucks,” and received a technical foul.
Doncic, on the other hand, reportedly told Lendeborg that he couldn’t guard him. In that game, Luka Doncic went 9-for-9 from the free-throw line and scored 28 points. The Lakers ultimately won the game 127-105, and Lendeborg wasn’t happy in the aftermath.
“I lost all respect (for Doncic), man,” he said in the post-game presser. “That was awful. … A lot of flopping, a lot of foul-baiting, a lot of praying to the ref, man. Interesting first game for me, for sure.”
Doncic, on the other hand, mostly laughed it off. “He was talking crazy, but I wasn’t trying to talk back this season,” he said in the presser afterwards. His position on the argument is natural given that he was whistled for 16 technical fouls last season and suspended for one game.
Doncic’s offensive prowess is well known to everyone at this point. He’s already in the early NBA MVP conversation, leading the league with a 36-point average across the last four games. This is what Stephen A. Smith’s critique targets.
The Lakers star is a veteran. He’s one of the best shooters and scorers in the league and has been so for many years now. Facing a rookie in his first years should be no problem for him.
“He was saying, I’m a rookie. What you looking for help for? Don’t look for no help. It’s me and you, let’s go.” Stephen A. Smith claimed on national television. He also believed that Doncic will not be able to “stop” Yaxel Lendeborg, who has maintained an average of 22.6 points, 9.2 rebounds, and four assists so far in the season.
The two are set to go up against one another once again. If Smith is right this time, the Warriors should be able to come out swinging and take the victory home as they did against the Lakers in preseason.