Michigan Alum Rich Reacts to Luka Doncic Rudely Welcoming Yaxel Lendeborg to the NBA

Rich keeps a souvenir next to his desk. It is a bag of confetti and a piece of the net from Lucas Oil Stadium, where Michigan cut down the nets last season. So when a Michigan rookie spent his first NBA game yapping at Luka Dončić, there was never any doubt which side Rich was on.

"I know all about Yaxel Lendeborg," Rich said. "Being a University of Michigan Wolverine."

The assignment

Rich laid out what Lendeborg brings: a body with a height and weight comparable to LeBron James, Big Ten Player of the Year honors, a self-made path, and "that dog in him." Michigan even beat UConn with half a Yaxel, Rich noted, because he was hurt.

For his first game as a pro, Golden State made him the franchise's first starting rookie since James Wiseman in 2020. His first defensive assignment was Dončić, one of the top five players on the planet.

Lendeborg described how he took the news after the game. "I'm on my phone chilling. He walks up to me. Hey, you're guarding Luka tonight," he said. "So, you know, I tried to act like all cool and not spooked, but I was spooked, man."

The yapping

Then the game happened. Lendeborg and Dončić started going at it, and at one point it looked like a double technical, except only Lendeborg got one. With Lendeborg on the bench, Dončić hit a three and pointed toward him. To Steve Kerr's credit, Rich said, the coach sent his rookie right back out there.

Dončić then banked one in from midcourt to end the half. Rich pointed out that was the only shot Dončić made with Lendeborg as the primary defender. He went one of six against him, and seven of 18 overall, in a 28-point night with a game-high plus-31.

The Lakers won 127-105, which Rich called the franchise's largest win of its kind since 1972. Austin Reaves scored 23, and Walker Kessler, much maligned on the show when he was acquired, went 12 of 12 from the floor for 26 points and nine rebounds.

"I lost all respect"

Lendeborg did not leave quietly. "I had a lot of respect for him," he said. "But then being in there first hand and just watching all the whining and complaining, I lost all respect, man."

He said it wasn't about one foul call. It was the complaining all game, then the celebrating after getting the call. "Congratulations, bro. And then you talk to me like you did something great, bro. Come on, dog. That's just weak," he said. He added that he kept telling Dončić he couldn't score on him, and joked that he considered guarding him with his hands behind his back.

Dončić's response was brief. He said he is trying to cut down on technicals this season. "That was not a double tech cuz I didn't say nothing. So I'm working on it."

Kerr and Draymond weigh in

Kerr loved it. "This was a great welcome to the NBA game for him," he said, noting that Lendeborg probably had three fouls that wouldn't be fouls in any other league in the world. "It was a frustrating night for him, but a lesson well learned and he'll get better from here."

Draymond Green went further. "You going to talk to somebody, you talk until you can't talk no more," he said. "You earn respect. So, you know, everybody's like, 'Oh, man, the rookie learned his lesson.' What he learn? The next time he see him, go at his ass again."

Rich could hardly contain himself. "Draymond Green saying stuff I'm agreeing with cuz he's backing up Yaxel Lendeborg," he said. "Human sacrifice, Wolverines and Spartans playing together. Mass hysteria." He got so excited he muted his own microphone.

Not everyone on set was sold. One voice said Lendeborg is saying what everyone thinks but hasn't earned the right yet, and now has to worry about Dončić every time they play. Asked whether he'd feel the same way if it weren't Lendeborg, Rich answered immediately: "Of course not."

Why it matters

Rich's bigger point was about the league. Football dominates, and the NBA often struggles to break through, even on Christmas Day. A rookie calling out Dončić on opening night is the kind of thing that gets people talking. The two teams meet again on Friday, October 30th, in a cup game.

"This is a godsend," Rich said. "Let's go."