LOS ANGELES -- In the aftermath of a 127-105 opening night loss, Golden State Warriors rookie Yaxel Lendeborg said he "lost all respect" for Los Angeles Lakers superstar Luka Doncic because of the way he begs for foul calls.
"I had a lot of respect for him [because] I didn't really watch the NBA much," Lendeborg said. "I just watched highlights and seen him kill people. But being in it first-hand and seeing all the whining and complaining, I lost all respect."
Without the injured Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody, the Warriors started Lendeborg on the wing in his professional debut and had him defend Doncic for a large chunk of the game.
Lendeborg had his share of success, holding Doncic to 1-of-6 shooting as the primary defender, according to ESPN tracking stats. But the Lakers offense hummed along regardless, scoring 32, 34 and 36 points the first three quarters to build a 35-point lead.
After several physical possessions against each other, tempers flared late in the second quarter when Doncic pump-faked Lendeborg into a shooting foul near the top of the key and let him know about it after the whistle.
"That was awful," Lendeborg said. "Me getting frustrated, it's not about the foul being called, it's about him complaining the entire game."
Lendeborg could be seen calling Doncic's move "weak ass shit" as Doncic laughed and clapped and a crowd of officials and players kept them separated.
"You get the foul call. Congratulations, bro," Lendeborg said. "Then you talk to me like you did something great. C'mon dog. That s--- is weak. It kinda threw me off because I have so much respect for him. Gone, man. Gone."
After the initial dust-up, the Warriors briefly subbed Lendeborg out of the game. On the following possession, Doncic hit a jumper and pointed at the rookie on the bench.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr then put Lendeborg back into the game to guard Doncic, and the back-and-forth continued to escalate.
"He was talking crazy," Doncic said. "But I wasn't trying to talk back. This season, I'm not trying to get techs."
With 31 seconds left in the first half, Doncic called for a clear-out against Lendeborg and the rookie defended him well without fouling, forcing a stepback miss. As the Warriors pushed the ball in transition, Lendeborg continued to yell at Doncic and official James Capers stopped play and called a technical on him.
"I was telling him he sucks," Lendeborg said. "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."
Doncic had the last laugh at the end of the first half. As time expired, he made a 48-foot halfcourt heave off the backboard to spike the Lakers lead to 14. Doncic then pointed and laughed at Lendeborg, the nearest defender.
"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 halfcourt shot and gets in his face. That should be a tech."
Lendeborg has been unafraid to deliver his unfiltered opinions since his first day in the NBA. He made headlines on draft night when he said he used to hate new teammate Steph Curry because he grew up a Kyrie Irving fan.
But Kerr and the Warriors have embraced his personality and praised his readiness to contribute at the NBA level. He became the first rookie since James Wiseman in 2020 to start for the Warriors on opening night and scored 12 points in his 29 minutes.
But his four fouls and his reaction to them became the hottest in-game and postgame topic. Draymond Green, his outspoken locker room mentor, said he had no problem with Lendeborg going after Doncic despite concern that it might have lit a fire under him.
"In this league, everybody always says, 'Oh, there's certain guys you gotta respect,'" Green said. "I ain't come in the league like that. Everybody will say, 'Oh, the rookie learned his lesson.' What'd he learn? The next time he see him, go at his ass again."
The Warriors and Lakers meet again in nine days on Oct. 30 in San Francisco.
"I guess this is what the NBA is like, man," Lendeborg said. "A lot of flopping, a lot of foul baiting, a lot of praying to the refs, man. Interesting first game for me."