By Brian Murphy
Trash talk when you lose by a million points: Fair or foul?
Today’s Jock Blog addresses the lightning rod known as Yaxel Lendeborg, who threw red meat to the NBA chatterverse masses when he talked his ish to six-time All-NBA first-teamer, two-time NBA scoring champ and five-time top-8 MVP vote-getter Luka Doncic, a man whom — upon typing out all those accolades — on paper should not be smack-talked by a guy who has played 29 career NBA minutes and rocks a career -21 in the plus/minus.
But here we are, in the position of painting Lendeborg as a hero for the people, and Doncic as a whiny, flopping, overrated bum.
Or, as Yaxel himself said: “He sucks.”
As you may have imagined by the gray hairs sprinkled in your faithful correspondent’s head, the Jock Blog does come from the older school, the place where you earn your keep before you bark and you show competitive respect to a fellow hooper who will earn $160 million over the next three seasons.
But times have changed, as I was just saying to Tampa Bay Ray Junior Caminero during his 35-minute home run trot in the ALCS clincher.
And as a Warriors fan who is looking warily at the ‘under’ part of Las Vegas’ 37.5 over/under for the Dubs this year, there is something mildly hopeful/confident/overconfident/aggressive/cheeky/brazen/maybe dumb/maybe not-dumb about Lendeborg poking the Slovenian bear.
(Or Slovenian sloth? At least that’s what the Dallas Mavericks thought when they traded this intergalactic talent. Of course, the guy who made that trade is no longer employed, but I digress.)
Two reasons why the Jock Blog will give Lendeborg a stamp of approval on what some might see as premature woofage:
- Blank the Lakers.
Wait. That’s not a good enough reason. Or is it? Let me try that again.
- It’s time someone called out Luka Doncic’s flopping, whining act. Mind, he is not the only current NBA star who works the refs and falls and acts and prances. It’s a plague on the game, currently. It makes Doncic, a sensational talent, less attractive as a player. So if Lendeborg shines a spotlight on a scourge in the game, more power to the kid. Does Steph Curry ref-bait as a way of life? Heck no. This is one of the many reasons we love Steph Curry. But Doncic . . . Shai Gilgeous-Alexander . . . James Harden . . . these very names cause you, the NBA fan, to make a sour face. If you like that style of play, I will not buy you a beer when we meet at the local saloon. Lendeborg called it out, saying: ”I guess this is what the NBA is like, man … a lot of flopping, a lot of foul baiting, a lot of praying to the refs, man. Interesting first game for me.”
Out of the mouths of babes.
2) Lendeborg, one game into his NBA career, looks like he actually cares about, and puts effort into, defense.
Defense! That lonely word. The Warriors enjoyed great defense in their title years, executed beautifully by Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, but have been very average of late. As exciting as the Splash Brothers were, the Warriors championship identity was forged on defense — number one in the NBA as recently as the 2022 championship run — and if Lendeborg’s hard work and intensity on defense can herald a new era, the Jock Blog is here for it.
His barking at Luka was not accompanied by an empty game. We’ve all seen the stat that Doncic was 1-for-6 from the field when Lendeborg was his primary defender. This comes with a warning. Longtime Doncic heads say that Lendeborg’s declaration of war means Doncic may cook up a 50-burger every time he sees Yaxel from now until the end of time.
We shall see. Is he getting the whistle every time he grills up those 50s? Or are the zebras letting us play here?
Round Two is next Friday at Chase Center. Get your TEAM YAXEL bedsheet signs ready.
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