Yaxel Lenderborg on his NBA debut and guarding Luka: "I got to see what the NBA is like, man. Lot of flopping, lot of foul baiting, lot of praying to the ref. Interesting first game for me... Being in there firsthand, just watching all the whining and complaining, I lost all respect. That was awful"
posted by u/BobRoss4Life · 2026-10-22 07:07 UTC
From Yaxel's post game presser after the 127-105 loss. Full 4min can be found here.
Transcript of this soundbite:
"Yeah, it was interesting. I got to see what the NBA is like, man. Lot of flopping, lot of foul baiting, lot of praying to the ref. Interesting first game for me, for sure.
I had a lot of respect for him (Luka). You know, just watching. I didn't really watch the NBA much, I just watched highlights. Seeing him, you know, kill people all the time. But then being in there firsthand, just watching all the whining and complaining, I lost all respect, man. Like that was awful.
Like me getting frustrated, it's not about the foul being called, it's about him complaining the entire game. And then you get the foul call, congratulations bro. And then you talk to me like you did something great, bro? Come on, dog. That's just weak. It kinda threw me off for a little while, cause you know, like I said, I had so much respect for him. Gone man, gone.
I was telling him he sucks, he can't score on me. You talking and you can't score on me. I said it the whole game. I said a couple cuss words obviously, you know, that's why I got the technical and all that. But I was letting him know, because he was laughing and talking all this because of that one foul call.
His only bucket on me was a banker from half court. Like I know that it's a team sport. You know, he had 28pts on us as a team. Me, I took my matchup personally. Tried not to get caught on the fouls. Tried my best. I was thinking about playing him with my hands behind my back to see if that worked, probably would've still got a foul call."
Original link: https://www.nba.com/warriors/videos/postgame-warriors-talk-yaxel-lendeborg-10-21-2026
## Top comments
1. u/Bowiescorvat2 · 2026-10-22 07:08 UTC
This guy has had 0 media training lol
2. u/myusrnameisthis · 2026-10-22 07:18 UTC
Lol but to be honest i like this sort of answer. Makes me want to tune in and watch him play now.
3. u/lohohohoho · 2026-10-22 07:28 UTC
Yeahh honestly refreshing, better than some generic pr ans
4. u/Feisty-Principle-216 · 2026-10-22 08:40 UTC
Yeah I had 0 opinions about this guy 10 minutes ago. Now I hope he has a good season and continues to be this candid. (Except against portland. Shoot 0/12 vs us plz)
5. u/get_to_ele · 2026-10-22 11:47 UTC
He’s been fun all summer. Dude is a good guy, charismatic and not too egotistical. 6’9” 240 doesn’t quite capture how physically imposing this guy is. With his skill set, and his ability to read and process quickly, he will be a very good player. He just needs to pack in a lot more knowledge of the NBA game and he’s on the perfect team to learn. He didn’t even play basketball his Sophomore and junior year of high school. And only played juco level till 2023. But he’s crushed it and improved exponentially every year. His ceiling room is way higher than people expect for a 24 year old. High efficiency scorer and shooter in a gargantuan 6’9” 240, with 9’ standing reach. Watch his shooting stroke in the combine, shooting spot up 3s on YT. The release times got even so much better since the NCAA championships. So high on this dude.
6. u/Inevitable_Bottle520 · 2026-10-22 12:35 UTC
And he can really move his feet on D. That’s a separator for a guy his size. Has a good handle. Even though he’s 24, like you say, he picked up ball late.
7. u/Karl_Hungus_42069 · 2026-10-22 09:36 UTC
Doesnt matter. He can go 12/12 and Portland still gonna win by 60
8. u/Zwonder74 · 2026-10-22 07:28 UTC
Honest about everyone but his teammates lol. Replace Luka with Draymond and its basically the same.
9. u/skr_skr · 2026-10-22 08:17 UTC
Nah Luka is the biggest complainer in the league by a country mile. I don’t think he’s the biggest foul baiter, but damn, Luka complains so much that his teammates have to play defense 4 on 5 multiple times a game. It’s like dude, you didn’t get the call… just get the fuck back on defense and complain at the next whistle at least. His own fans get mad. Can only imagine his teammates.
10. u/JaderMcDanersStan · 2026-10-22 13:02 UTC
When wolves played the Mavs in the WCF, I was there live up close. Luka would complain to the ref even during timeouts when his team was in a huddle…
Like well after the play, he’s still complaining to refs lol
11. u/alwaysthinkandplanah · 2026-10-22 14:06 UTC
I don't understand how complaining to the refs works, if I were at my job and someone was non-stop complaining in my ear the whole time I'm going to try my hardest to shaft them.
It also doesn't make sense because so many bad refs have huge egos, you'd think the complaining would bruise their ego and you'd get LESS calls. Draymond verbally abuses refs the whole game and they reward him for it?
12. u/Weary_Cabinet_8123 · 2026-10-22 11:30 UTC
Was he blind when he won an NCAA championship and Elliot Cadeau foul baited CONSTANTLY? Or is it more annoying now cause it’s the opponent?
13. u/Muruju · 2026-10-22 12:27 UTC
Well he did say it’s more annoying cause it’s the NBA
14. u/No_Economics_64 · 2026-10-22 14:10 UTC
I love it. How people aren't sick of the flopping is beyond me. If you are sick of the flopping then you have to agree with the kid.
Had he said the same thing about a less popular player on a less popular team (or image of he said the same thing while guarding LeBron)? He would be the new peoples champion!!
15. u/kyleb402 · 2026-10-22 17:36 UTC
More players need to talk like this.
Maybe it'll embarrass guys into doing it less or the league into cracking down on it.
16. u/j_palazzolo · 2026-10-22 13:25 UTC
I love it.
17. u/mmhawk607 · 2026-10-22 07:29 UTC
Tbh as a neutral fan it’s entertaining to have someone not give the same expected answers once in a while. I’m sure dubs fans will eventually have to deal with worse from him tho
18. u/Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu11 · 2026-10-22 11:30 UTC
To be fair he locked Luka up when he was guarding him, so he reserves every right to call Luka out for his complaining.
19. u/ProudMonkey12 · 2026-10-22 10:46 UTC
Nah bro. I’m a huge Luka fan but I wholeheartedly agree with everything he’s saying. Luka complaints way too damn much. It’s good to see other players call him out on that
20. u/Lawgang94 · 2026-10-22 11:51 UTC
For better or worse I prefer when atheletes are honest how many times do we get the buttoned up, cookie cutter answers that tell us nothing? Nah keep it real.