‘I lost all respect’: Warriors rookie blasts Lakers star Luka Doncic after blowout loss

LOS ANGELES — Yaxel Lendeborg has only played one NBA game, yet he’s already started a feisty feud with Luka Doncic.

The Golden State Warriors rookie began his career Wednesday night by refusing to back down from the reigning NBA scoring champion, who punctuated their prolonged on-court exchange of trash talk by making a spectacular half-court shot in Lendeborg’s face at the halftime buzzer.

Doncic also won this fight decisively on the scoreboard when the Los Angeles Lakers blew out Lendeborg and the Warriors 127-105, with Doncic scoring 28 points in just three quarters.

Yet Lendeborg somehow wasn’t finished talking: He called out the six-time All-Star as a complainer and a free-throw merchant during his postgame news conference.

“I lost all respect (for Doncic), man,” Lendeborg said. “That was awful. … A lot of flopping, a lot of foul-baiting, a lot of praying to the ref, man. Interesting first game for me, for sure.”

The Warriors’ 24-year-old rookie first-round pick said he sparred with Doncic on the court because of the Slovenian superstar’s constant complaining to the officials — admittedly a common feature of most games in Doncic’s nine-year career.

Lendeborg, who won an NCAA title with Michigan last season…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/sports