Golden State Warriors rookie forward Yaxel Lendeborg barely had time to unpack his first regular-season postgame comments before he was already circling another divisional test.
After the Warriors dropped their opener to the Los Angeles Lakers, the Michigan product made headlines for ripping Luka Doncic’s constant complaints to officials. Lendeborg said he “lost all respect” for the star guard after seeing him up close.
“I didn’t really watch the NBA much, I just watched highlights,” Lendeborg said in his first regular season NBA postgame presser. “But then being in there firsthand and watching all the whining and complaining, I lost all respect, man.”
He doubled down on the point by saying it wasn’t about one player being upset over one call. For him, the issue was Doncic complaining “the entire game.”
Now the rookie gets thrown right back into the fire. The Warriors are scheduled to meet the Phoenix Suns on Saturday, Oct. 24, and that brings a fresh batch of noise with it.
Dillon "The Villain" Brooks is waiting on the other side, giving the matchup an extra edge. Doncic has even praised Brooks before, both for his trash talk and for his game.
Phoenix is also coming in with something to prove after getting routed by the Portland Trail Blazers in its opener, a 41-point defeat that left the Suns looking to change the tone fast.
Golden State’s own situation isn’t exactly clean either. The Warriors are still without Jimmy Butler and Kristaps Porzingis, while Lendeborg stands out as one of the few new faces on the roster after the team was bounced by Phoenix in the Play-In Tournament months ago.
The Suns are also monitoring Oso Ighodaro after he played only 15 minutes in the opener, then went to the locker room and did not return because of a hip injury.
As things stand, ESPN analytics gives Phoenix a 64.3 percent chance to beat Golden State on Saturday.
And stylistically, the matchup leans toward the Suns. Unlike Portland, the Warriors don’t have a 7-foot-2 anchor like Donovan Clingan creating problems inside, and Golden State is also one of the smaller teams in the league. That should make life easier for Phoenix, and for a Suns group that now gets a chance to respond with Lendeborg’s outspoken debut fresh in the background.
In Other News...
Suns Fans Already Have A Brutal New Reason To Hate This Trade
The Suns first night of the season did not offer much comfort after the front office sent out an unprotected first-round pick in the deal that brought in Miles Bridges. Phoenix got blown out by Portland, and Bridges debut only added to the unease. He finished with eight points on rough shooting, the kind of opener that immediately puts a spotlight on both the player and the price tag attached to him.
For a team already under pressure to justify its roster construction, the early returns are hard to ignore. The Suns were hoping the move would help stabilize the rotation and add a piece that could fit quickly, but instead it left fans looking at the long-term cost and the short-term output at the same time. When a win-now swing starts with a lopsided loss and an unconvincing debut, the questions around what Phoenix gave up tend to get louder fast. [Read more 🡒]
Devin Booker Already Faces A Suns Problem Fans Know Too Well
The Suns were staring at a familiar kind of trouble almost as soon as the season began, digging an early 21-0 hole against the Portland Trail Blazers before Devin Booker had even settled in. Booker looked like Booker, which is usually enough to keep Phoenix afloat for stretches, but the bigger issue was the rest of the roster around him. For a team trying to reset its footing, the opening minutes offered a blunt reminder that one star can only cover so much ground.
What made the start feel so uneasy was not just the slow opening, but the broader question it revived about the Suns' current build. Phoenix has spent recent eras trying to pair Booker with another true difference-maker, and the concern now is whether this version of the roster has enough reliable support to keep teams from loading up on him. The opener did little to ease that worry, and it leaves the Suns with a problem they know all too well even before the season gets rolling. [Read more 🡒]
Suns May Have A Ceiling Problem Fans Cant Ignore
Devin Bookers recent struggles have only sharpened the bigger question hanging over Phoenix: how much more upside is actually left on this roster? The Suns have pieces that can still help them win right now, but the overall picture feels crowded by familiar roles and uncertain development, with players like Dillon Brooks, Collin Gillespie and Miles Bridges not offering much in the way of obvious growth.
Ryan Dunn and Rasheer Fleming add to that concern because their offensive progress has been limited so far, which leaves the conversation drifting toward the few players who still look capable of a meaningful leap. Jalen Green and Khaman Maluach stand out as the likeliest candidates to improve in a noticeable way, but even that only goes so far if Phoenix is trying to raise its ceiling rather than simply stay afloat. [Read more 🡒]