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Yaxel Lendeborg had an eventful first full week in the NBA, and it appears it will stay that way.
Lendeborg spoke with Luca Evans of the San Francisco Chronicle and told him he is “going to stay true to myself” when asked about potentially taking media training.
“I’m not doing that, man. I’m going to stay true to myself and be honest. I’ve seen plenty of interviews where people are talking and it’s like, ‘Man, I don’t want to watch this,’ you know what I mean? And it’s not like I’m click-baiting or click-farming or whatever the heck people are saying. But it’s like, that’s honestly how I feel.”
Lendeborg continued, “I’m not gonna lie about it. I’ve never been a liar. So, just tell the truth.”
After Lendeborg finished playing his first NBA game against the Lakers last week, he told the California Post’s Evan Webeck and other reporters that he “lost all respect” for Luka Doncic.
Lendeborg claimed that during the Warriors’ 127-105 loss, Doncic was “flopping, a lot of foul baiting, a lot of praying to the ref.”
As the dust started to settle, Lendeborg said the following day that he went “overboard” with the trash talk toward Doncic.
This isn’t the first time Lendeborg has made some questionable comments as well.
After he was selected with the 11th pick in the NBA draft last summer, Lendeborg told reporters that he grew up hating Warriors icon Steph Curry.
During the 2010s, Lendeborg grew up as a Cavaliers fan and was a “big Kyrie [Irving] guy.”
His early teenage years saw Irving’s Cavaliers face off against Curry’s Warriors four times in the NBA Finals (2014-2018), which included Golden State winning three of those matchups.
Since his comments toward Curry, Lendeborg has grown accustomed to playing beside him, including on Wednesday night when he scored 26 points. Curry tallied 44 points, tying him with LeBron James at 15 games for players to score 40 points past the age of 35.
On Friday night, Lendeborg will get a chance to redeem himself against Doncic at the Chase Center in San Francisco.