The Los Angeles Lakers picked up their first win of the season against the Golden State Warriors, but the story of the night was the battle between Luka Doncic and Yaxel Lendeborg.
Doncic played for the first time since April of last year, as an injury sidelined him for the playoffs, while Lendeborg made his NBA debut. Both players appeared in the mood to talk trash, which led to some drama both during and after the game.
While Doncic's team got the win, it was Lendeborg who made a definitive statement when he said he "lost all respect" for Doncic. It's only just the start of the NBA season, but these two have already provided a potential storyline for the rest of the year.
Here's a breakdown of the beef between Luka Doncic and Yaxel Lendeborg.
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Yaxel Lendeborg beefs with Luka Doncic
The highlight of the Lakers' blowout win over the Warriors on Wednesday night was Luka Doncic and Yaxel Lendeborg, who jawed at each other all night. It was Lendeborg's first NBA game, and he made sure it was a memorable one by trash-talking the Lakers star.
Doncic wasn't afraid to give it back to Lendeborg, especially after he hit a half-court buzzer-beater with time winding down right before halftime.
Doncic had a game-high 28 points, leading Los Angeles to victory in the team's first games of the season. While it isn't uncommon for his to score that many points, Doncic said Lendeborg made the wrong decision to instigate the trash-talking with him.
"Everybody knows when somebody starts talking, you got a different me," he said.
After the game, and Lendeborg was not shy in sharing how he felt about Doncic's antics. The rookie said he lost respect for Doncic after Doncic spent much of the night complaining with the officials for foul calls.
"I had a lot of respect for him," he said. "But just being in there first hand, watching all the whining and complaining, I lost all respect for him, that was awful."
Lendeborg detailed that he wasn't upset about Doncic being called for fouls, instead taking issue with how often Doncic pleads with the referees for more calls.
"It's now about the foul being called, it's about him complaining the entire game," Lendevorg added. "It kind of threw me off for a little while."
Lendeborg did seem to provide some resistance on Doncic, who is among the best offensive players in the NBA. The rookie forward told Doncic that he couldn't score on him, which seemed to be the case for much of the game.
Golden State and Los Angeles are set to play three more times this season, with the next matchup coming on October 30. Lendeborg and Doncic will seemingly take center stage every time they play each other.
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