LOS ANGELES — Matched up with Luka Doncic, Yaxel Lendeborg, the Warriors’ bold and brash rookie, came away with at least one lesson from his NBA debut.
asserted
Lendeborg → match → debut
“Being in there firsthand, just watching all the whining and complaining, I lost all respect, man,” Lendeborg said after Golden State’s 127-105 season-opening loss to the Lakers.
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Lendeborg → watch → Lakers
Lendeborg finished with 12 points, four personal fouls and one technical in 29 minutes.
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Lendeborg → finish → minutes
He often drew the defensive matchup with Doncic, who went off for a game-high 28 with nine free throws.
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who → draw → throws
But Lendeborg’s biggest takeaway was all Doncic’s extracurriculars that came after the whistle.
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that → come → whistle
“Like, me getting frustrated, it’s not about the foul getting called.
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foul → get → ?
It’s about him complaining the entire game,” Lendeborg said.
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Lendeborg → ’ → ?
“Then you get the foul called — congratulations, bro — and you talk to me like you did something great?
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you → get → something
That’s just weak.
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That → ’ → ?
It kind of threw me off for a while.
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It → throw → while
Because like I said, I had so much respect for him.
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I → say → him
Though Doncic only made it to the line nine times, Lendeborg said it felt like 30.
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it → make → 30
Doncic mostly only ran his mouth on the court, merely saying afterward that the No. 11 overall pick was “talking like crazy.”
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pick → run → court
Lendeborg, on the other hand, was happy to get into the nitty gritty.
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Lendeborg → get → gritty
“I said a couple cuss words,” Lendeborg said.
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Lendeborg → say → words
“That’s why I got the technical.
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I → ’ → technical
But I was letting him know, because he was laughing and talking all this because of one foul call.”
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he → let → call
Lendeborg bit on one of Doncic’s pump fakes midway through the first half, and the two were off and running — their mouths, anyway.
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two → bite → half
Doncic pointed and laughed.
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Doncic → point → ?
Lendeborg responded.
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Lendeborg → respond → ?
At one point, Lendeborg started putting both his hands behind his back when guarding Doncic.
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Lendeborg → start → Doncic
“I tried my best,” he said.
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he → try → best
“I still got called.”
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I → call → ?
The back-and-forth continued for the remainder of the first half, hitting an inflection point after Lendeborg successfully defended Doncic on a step-back 3.
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Lendeborg → continue → back
He followed him back down the court, yapping all the way, until he was T’d up for the first time in his career.
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he → follow → career
Doncic returned the favor after banking in a half-court shot at the buzzer going into halftime.
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Doncic → return → halftime
Coach Steve Kerr said it was “kind of ridiculous” that Lendeborg was the only one to draw a technical in the exchange.
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Lendeborg → say → exchange
But he didn’t have a problem with his rookie’s confidence.
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he → have → confidence
“They were jawing at each other.
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They → jaw → other
I think it was the words Yaxel chose that got him the T,” Kerr said, acknowledging that Doncic “kind of lured him in.”
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Doncic → think → him
Lendeborg looked at it differently, despite Doncic’s well-known proclivity for elevating his play when an opponent pokes the bear.
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opponent → look → bear
The rest of the league will learn he feeds off it, too.
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he → learn → it
“I feel like it works for me, for sure.
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it → feel → me
On the defensive end I feel like it worked,” Lendeborg said.
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Lendeborg → feel → end
“I know he has a reputation for that.
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he → know → that
That’s probably why the half-court shot went in.
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shot → ’ → ?
But I didn’t really see nothing else.
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I → see → nothing
I definitely thought that he was gonna do more than that.
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he → think → that
If we learned anything from Lendeborg’s NBA debut, he may be the league’s most captivating newcomer, possibly even a spiritual successor to Draymond Green.
uncertain
he → learn → Green
Lendeborg, however, walked away wide-eyed for another reason.
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Lendeborg → walk → reason
…and 2 more, not listed.
The Aporia
