One NBA game was all it took for Yaxel Lendeborg to make up his mind about Luka Doncic. And one rant was all it took for Eddie A. Johnson to make up his mind about Lendeborg. The Golden State Warriors rookie’s postgame takedown of the Los Angeles Lakers star earned him backing from Draymond Green and Stephen Curry, but the former NBA player and longtime Phoenix Suns broadcaster thinks the 24-year-old needs to learn before he talks.
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“Did Draymond take this kid in a room and pulled a Phil Jackson with some incense and hallucinatory babble. Rookie breaking down Luka like he been around for years ! Be quiet and be a rookie and learn. This rant after one game is unreal!” Johnson wrote on X.
Johnson’s jab referenced Phil Jackson, the 11-time champion coach known for burning sage and teaching Zen philosophy to his players. Johnson was suggesting that Green, the Warriors’ longtime enforcer, had filled the rookie’s head with a little too much confidence.
The criticism came after the Lakers defeated the Warriors 127-105 on October 21. Doncic finished with 28 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists, while Lendeborg recorded 12 points in his NBA debut. The rookie also received a technical foul following his on-court exchange with Doncic.
Lendeborg said guarding Doncic changed how he viewed the Lakers star. He had admired Doncic, but was frustrated by what he saw as constant complaining to officials.
“I had a lot of respect for him… I didn’t really watch the NBA much. I just watched highlights, seeing him kill people all the time. But then being in there firsthand, just watching him whining and complaining, I lost all respect, man,” Lendeborg said.
The rookie also admitted that he repeatedly challenged Doncic during their matchup. “I was telling him he s–ks. He can’t score on me. You talking, you can’t score on me. I said it the whole game,” he explained, acknowledging that his language contributed to the technical foul.
While Johnson believed the rookie needed to learn before speaking so openly, Green saw the confrontation differently. Speaking in the Warriors’ locker room, Green rejected the idea that Lendeborg should have stayed away from Doncic.
“Everybody’s gonna be like, ‘Oh man, he shouldn’t talk to Luka.’ You should not talk to Luka. And I disagree with that s–t, 1,000%,” Green said. “You f—ing go and talk to somebody. You talk until you can’t f—ing talk no more. And if he busts your a–, guess what? You play him again three more times, and you go back at his a– again. And then you see him the third time, and you go back at his a– again.”
Green’s message was that Lendeborg should not let one difficult matchup stop him from competing. He also emphasized that players earn respect by continuing to stand their ground rather than backing away after a loss.
Curry had a calmer tone about it but had a similar view. “So he’s setting the table for himself to have to show up, and I like that nature of the game,” Curry said. “Whether you do it in between your ears or you let it out, I know he’ll be able to back it up.”
The disagreement highlights two contrasting views of the rookie’s approach. Johnson questioned whether Lendeborg had earned the right to speak so confidently after one NBA game, while Green encouraged him to maintain that competitive edge.
The Lakers and Warriors are scheduled to meet again on October 30 in San Francisco. That rematch will give Lendeborg another opportunity to face Doncic, with his postgame comments and the reactions from Johnson and Green adding another layer to their developing matchup.