- 2 days ago
Willard and Dibs react to Yaxel Lendeborg's comments about Steph Curry, his rookie year, and more while live streaming video games last night. Do you like how open Yaxel is?
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00:00There's one more from Yaxel, and I'm torn.
00:04Don't be torn, because I just read another quote from Yaxel,
00:08and I'm wondering if what you're going to play is what I just read.
00:10Well, I want to play, well, let's play the thing from Yaxel,
00:13but Filmo Mike is also on hold, and I love it when Filmo calls.
00:17So we want to get to all of this.
00:20And if anybody else wants to react to this,
00:23I find this very interesting, but not in any sort of a concern way.
00:29To me, it's more just a, well, and warning is the wrong word,
00:34but I think there's an awareness level.
00:37The Warriors, I'm sure, have it.
00:39Like, they don't draft people and do multimillion-dollar investments
00:42unless they've really vetted and talked it all out,
00:45and they feel like this fits.
00:46But I keep getting the exact same impression from Yaxel.
00:50I'm great with it, but I think that the world and the Warriors
00:55need to be ready for a lottery pick that is a very large personality.
01:01And I'm trying to think of a comp here.
01:04Draymond Green was a second-round pick
01:05and did not make it onto the floor for a while.
01:08Other than that, right, Jonathan Kaminga, James Wiseman,
01:12these people didn't speak for two years.
01:14I think the closest comp I can think of is Pods,
01:16and his comments, he's not that boisterous,
01:20but his comments about, I want to be better than Steph Curry,
01:23that got blown out of proportion,
01:25but that led him to kind of be a little bit more reserved.
01:27And look how that's gone.
01:29But that's kind of my point about the comp.
01:31Yes, like he is very confident,
01:35and now half the fan base is practically out to get him.
01:40And so here we are again.
01:42And we know how it works.
01:44If Yaxel is awesome, then it's all good.
01:48But that's a hell of a lot to put on his shoulders.
01:51He's a rookie.
01:52He's a rookie.
01:54And so if he comes in and struggles a little bit,
01:57how does the fan base, how do his teammates take it
02:00if his personality remains large
02:02and his output doesn't match that?
02:06So here's the last one,
02:08and this is the one for me where I kind of go,
02:10ooh, if I were your PR rep, I'd be like,
02:14ah, how about if we talk more about being a really good warrior
02:21and fitting in and hoping the team wins,
02:26but instead what Yaxel, and again, this is on his live stream,
02:30he's playing Rocket League and streaming on kick,
02:34and Yaxel starts talking about the stats that he wants to put up.
02:38Can you predict your stats?
02:39I'm going to try to average 15 points,
02:41like six rebounds, and like three, four assists.
02:43I'm going to make that like the bare minimum for me.
02:46You know what I'm saying?
02:46If I get under that, then I'm asking.
02:47I now want to remind everybody he's answering questions
02:50that fans are sending in.
02:52So it's not like he just decided to start talking about stats.
02:55And I love that he answered,
02:57but I know a lot of people are like,
02:59the correct answer for a rookie,
03:01can you predict your stats?
03:03I'm not worried about stats.
03:05I want this to go really well for the Warriors.
03:07We want to win, and I want to play the role,
03:10you know, the stupid stuff.
03:11That's what people want to hear, though, sometimes.
03:14And I like this, but that's not this guy.
03:17That's not who the Warriors drafted.
03:20The Warriors drafted somebody who will say it.
03:23And we'll see.
03:25He'll say all of it.
03:26We'll see how that blends with the likes of Steph Curry,
03:28Draymond Green, and other veterans.
03:31Al and Jimmy and Melton.
03:33I mean, there's so many veterans.
03:34And I guess the only thing that would have been more eyebrow-raising
03:38was if he said, my rookie stats?
03:40Have you guys not seen what Steve Kerr does to rookies?
03:43I'm going to go zero points, zero rebounds, zero assists.
03:47Y'all think I'm playing?
03:48Right.
03:49Y'all haven't been watching?
03:51Fillmore Mike.
03:52Phil Moe, thanks for calling.
03:56Hey.
03:58Hey.
03:58First of all,
04:00what the hell are you talking about language?
04:03Get up out of here with that clutching your purse.
04:07I don't know about the language.
04:10Man, he's talking that talk, man.
04:13You feel me?
04:14The youngsters talk like that.
04:15You down there pushing 65, 60 outside.
04:19You feel me?
04:21So you not with it.
04:23But the youngsters, that's how they talk, bro.
04:26And it reminds me of Anthony Edwards.
04:30We got our own.
04:31And it's not like a Draymond.
04:33You know, Draymond get real serious.
04:35Yeah.
04:35So he's just talking, he's just having fun, Bill.
04:38He don't know.
04:40He's, when you're naive, you're kind of, you know, you're not ignorant.
04:43You just don't know.
04:45He's just a baby.
04:46Like, man, I'm trying to average 16.
04:47That's what he's trying to do.
04:48I love to hear the talk.
04:50I love the bravado.
04:52And let me mention this.
04:54Steph is awesome.
04:56But Steph is super, like, he's not even Obama presidential.
05:00Like, he's over the top, like, to the point where it's like, oh, like, Steph gives answers
05:05and you respect it and you love it, right?
05:07But he don't get answers that, you know, you know, I don't, I can't really explain it.
05:13He'd give a great answer, a perfect answer, but he's not answering the question like in
05:17a Charles Barkley or Anthony Edwards type of way.
05:21And the odds comparison deals is a great one.
05:24And I just want to say this, and I don't want to get too deep, but I think it's going
05:29to land with Yassel Moore and I'm going to get his weird analogy.
05:33Just follow me.
05:34You know, we in the Bay Area, a lot of people say the N-word, right?
05:39That is not, that's not African-American.
05:43And sometimes people find upon, you know, Asian or Filipino or Latino saying that word,
05:49where it's more so socially accepted for black people to say that word.
05:52Now, I don't really care, right?
05:54But it's almost like when Paz was like, oh, man, I'm trying to be like Steph, they
05:59rolled their eyes like you saying, like, bro, why are you using that word?
06:03And you're just trying to act like you down.
06:05Whereas Yassel, he said what he said, and you kind of feel it more, and you kind of
06:09believe it.
06:10And I don't want to take it deep, because I like BP, me personally.
06:13I think he's a solid player.
06:15And so, and he is a winning player.
06:18So I don't want to take it there, but it kind of reminded me of that.
06:21Like when one person said, it's okay.
06:23But when someone else said, you kind of, you know, turn your nose and like, bro, what are
06:28you talking about?
06:28Come on, bro.
06:29You're trying to act like Steph.
06:30And when Yassel just did it, he just admired Steph.
06:33Like, bro, I ain't going to be Steph.
06:34I just want to average 15, 16, 16, 3, 4, or 6.
06:38So, I don't know.
06:41Yeah, thanks, Phil-Mo.
06:42Phil-Mo.
06:43Maybe it is.
06:44I thought that you jump in first.
06:45Maybe it's me, Phil-Mo, bristling at the use of that word that you referred to, and I
06:51would never use it.
06:52And people who are African-American, I understand that you use it, you can use it, and all the
06:58rest of it.
06:58I just, in that clip, I thought that it was a little bit over the top with the profanity.
07:02And yes, Mike, I'm not quite 65, but I'm closer to 65 than I am 50.
07:09So, maybe that's the...
07:11Are you?
07:12Yep.
07:12Yep.
07:13Facts.
07:1457.
07:15I'll be 58 on Saturday.
07:16So, that would put me seven years away from 65 and eight away from 50.
07:20I didn't know where your birthday is.
07:21You should know.
07:22I don't.
07:23That's why Grandy's taking off, so he doesn't have to be around the entirety of the celebration.
07:28Grandy, can you...
07:29Is it too late for me to get that day off also?
07:32Saturday?
07:32Oh.
07:33Friday.
07:34No, you could try.
07:35Yeah, can I have Friday off?
07:36Your birthday's Saturday, right?
07:37Correct.
07:37Yeah.
07:39Too late.
07:39Whatever.
07:40Can I just have...
07:40Too late.
07:41Yeah.
07:42Anyway, and to respond to Philmo Mike, I'm sure that is more of a me problem than younger
07:47people probably didn't even bat an eye.
07:49I'm just giving you the way that I reacted to that, and I just...
07:53My shoulders went up a little bit in the amount of profanity he used.
07:58That's all.
07:58I'm still a big yaxle guy.
08:00I have been for months.
08:01Okay, let's start by playing this again.
08:04This is Yaxle Lendeborg, and the first comment, live streaming as he plays Rocket League, and
08:10he's talking about watching Steph Curry's workout.
08:14Bro, yes, I was watching this today.
08:16I was like, this dude really don't miss at all.
08:19Like, that's damn near making me mad.
08:21Like, I'm mad as hell, low-key.
08:23Like, you know what I'm saying?
08:24Like, is Steph Curry real?
08:25Hell no, man.
08:26I was watching, I'm like, holy fuck, like, this is not missing a shot.
08:30Like, that is crazy as fuck.
08:32Like, me, it's like, like, you gotta be boring.
08:33Like, just shooting and knowing you're gonna make it every time.
08:35Like, you know?
08:36Like, that's crazy, bro.
08:37No, like, at some point, it's like, it's like, you know, because when you miss, it, like,
08:40adds flavor to everything.
08:41It gets you mad a little bit, you know?
08:43He's just not missing.
08:44You know?
08:44It's like, it's like, goddamn, like, now what?
08:46You know?
08:47I'm gonna go talk to him.
08:48I'm gonna go, yo, bro, like, how do I, um, how do I shoot like you?
08:50You know what I'm saying?
08:50He work at it.
08:52I go, done.
08:53But I need the little small details, small tips and tricks to get that J up.
08:56That's my favorite part.
08:58He work at it.
08:59Yeah, but I, like, okay.
09:00And so, first of all, with the beeps and the bill, all of that stuff, I think there are
09:04a lot of people, like, you don't know what word he's using.
09:07I think you've let the cat out of the bag on that, and that's fine.
09:11I mean, I'm not at all triggered by how somebody speaks with his or her people in their own
09:17home or their own space.
09:18I get that it's a live stream, um, but to me, not, I, this is just how I look at
09:25it.
09:25I'm not putting this on you.
09:26I don't feel like it's my place to tell somebody else, um, what words to use.
09:33And, and like, look, if you're around children or something, that's one thing.
09:37I guess you can make the case that this is accessible on some level to, uh, to younger
09:43people, but I'm, I'm not going to be, uh, I'm not going to come down somebody's road for
09:48that.
09:48This is how he talks, right?
09:50I'm not coming down his road.
09:52He can use whatever language he wants to use on a live stream on the court in a press conference.
09:58It doesn't really matter to me because he's a grown man and he can do what he wants.
10:03I'm just saying that is how I reacted when I heard it.
10:07My reaction was, that was a lot.
10:09And that to me was a little bit more than what I was expecting.
10:13Not that I thought that he was a, an altar boy.
10:16I don't even know the guy, like you've said before, all I can tell you is how I reacted.
10:20And again, I'm not going to be down on Yaxl now.
10:23I'm a huge fan of his game.
10:24I don't know the person, but when I heard that, I was just, my shoulders went up a little
10:28bit like, uh, that was a lot.
10:30Um, didn't bother me at all.
10:32I think your description is fair though, when you say a lot and, and that's actually
10:36my point.
10:37And I, I, I think that fans should be ready for this.
10:40I think Draymond should be ready for this.
10:43I think the Warriors will be ready for this.
10:45This is an organization, um, that, uh, despite its reputation, I think does a pretty good job
10:51most of the time, tucking the younger players in at least from a relationship standpoint.
10:57I know the two things that so many of you will bring up Draymond punched Jordan pool.
11:02And, uh, Steve Kerr wouldn't play Jonathan Kaminga.
11:05That's not what I'm, I'm talking about.
11:07Quite frankly, I'm talking about, uh, an organizational structure.
11:11I'm more talking, for example, the way Jimmy Butler tried like hell to get Jonathan Kaminga
11:18under his wing and, uh, and kind of guide the young man through what was clearly a difficult
11:23situation.
11:23I think the Warriors are built to handle this.
11:26Um, although he's also arriving at an interesting time where things are probably going to become
11:32more frustrating, the fading dynasty, if you will.
11:36So that can be difficult, but Yaxel, I think he's more mature, obviously, than maybe he was
11:42a year ago.
11:43He's been very, very successful in college.
11:45I have no doubt, uh, that his game is going to speak for itself in the pros, but the phrase
11:52you just used a lot, I think that's what we should be ready for.
11:57Yaxel's a lot.
11:59He's not, this is, there's not going to be like demure.
12:03Hey, I'm just happy to be here.
12:04That does not feel to me like who he is and that can create challenges when you're the
12:13new guy and you're joining an establishment, not just that the Warriors have won four rings.
12:19They're literally bringing the exact roster back and you're the only update.
12:25You're, that's it.
12:26Just you and you got to fit yourself into that fraternity when everyone else has already
12:32been in it, that can be challenging for a big personality.
12:35And it can be challenging for the group when the guy who is coming in is 24.
12:39And just hearing you lay that out, if you go back to their previous drafted players,
12:43I think pods was 20, maybe just 22 years of college.
12:48Kaminga and Wiseman were both 18.
12:50I think Moses Moody was 19.
12:52So your previous highly drafted players, and I'll throw pods in there because he was a first
12:57rounder.
12:57They all were not yet of legal drinking age.
13:00And here comes a guy who played six years of college basketball, fresh off the natty.
13:05And he's got a lot of self-confidence and he's willing to talk to you about that.
13:09And he's 24.
13:10So this rookie is going to be a little bit different for the vets even to on board than
13:16the previous guys who were, I mean, Wiseman played less than an hour, 60 minutes of college
13:22basketball.
13:22So he came in raw and Kaminga had only been in the country for four or five years.
13:26And, you know, pods had a chip on his shoulder, but wasn't necessarily running material.
13:30And this guy's a little bit different.
13:32Let's keep going on the phones.
13:33888-957-9570.
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13:54Imagine that.
13:54Let's go to Lucky in the city.
13:55Hi, Lucky.
13:56Thanks for calling.
13:58Good afternoon.
13:59Willard and Beers.
14:00How you guys doing today, man?
14:02What's up, man?
14:03Good.
14:03Thank you for calling in.
14:05All right, man.
14:06Well, you know, I've been on a kind of hiatus, man.
14:08I've been trying to rehab, man, so I can get back to work.
14:11So, you know, but I've still been listening to you guys.
14:14As far as the Yaxos situation, I love the passion and I guess you could say the youthful maturity,
14:23if you want to say.
14:24But I kind of agree with Deers.
14:27I mean, you know, we're both OG.
14:29So, if you're talking to maybe, like, the public or whatever, you do need to kind of watch what you
14:37say
14:37because it can get taken out of contact, even though that's something that our culture, you know, frequently uses.
14:44But you still have to be mindful of your job and your position and how it's going to affect, like,
14:52the young people that are watching you,
14:54you know, they're looking up to you.
14:55So, just be careful, Yaxos, but keep it.
14:57I love it.
14:58I'm ready for this warrior season, man.
15:00I know you guys are, you know, thinking that we're going to be in the crapper,
15:02but I think we might have a shot to be top six.
15:05I don't think they're necessarily going to be in the crapper.
15:11I haven't even put necessarily a standings thought to it.
15:15Let's see what Yaxos looks like.
15:18Let's see what the health of Steph Curry's knee is.
15:20Let's see how quickly Jimmy can get back.
15:23Blah, blah, blah.
15:23Like, I'm going to be here for all of it.
15:25We'll do the schedule game tomorrow.
15:27We'll go through all 82.
15:28Yeah, the whole thing's coming out.
15:29Listen, I am very excited about this player.
15:35And the bigger his personality gets, the more excited I get.
15:39That's how I look at it.
15:41Lucky's not wrong.
15:42I think every player, when you come into the league,
15:46Dajon Stribling is going to learn this.
15:48It doesn't matter what your personality is.
15:50You need to learn that once you become a highly paid professional,
15:55the intensity, the scrutiny, it gets ratcheted way up.
16:00Now, Stribling played in the SEC, for example.
16:04So you could argue that the intensity of the eyeballs might have even been more.
16:09But this is the National Football League now.
16:13And you're getting paid highly, and now you play for one of the biggest brands in the sport.
16:19That changes everything.
16:20You're going to be on Fantasy League teams and all of this.
16:23Same thing with Yaxel.
16:25Same thing with Yaxel.
16:27And he's joining an iconic group.
16:29I know it's been four years since they've won,
16:32but you're literally joining Steph Curry.
16:37So, yes, there's a learning curve.
16:40Doesn't matter who you are, there's a learning curve.
16:43Nothing has been done wrong here.
16:46But I just see, I see a personality that might, I guess, put it this way,
16:52some of the lessons he learns might be on the harder side,
16:56as opposed to the softer side.
16:58Because when you're a big personality, you know, big words, big falls, big trips, big spills.
17:05And big expectations.
17:06And what he put out in that cut that you played,
17:08he basically is trying to have the kind of rookie year that VJ Edgecombe did last year.
17:15He averaged 16, 6, and 4.
17:17And that's basically what Yaxel's trying to do.
17:20He's trying to go out there and average 16.
17:22And, you know, you put that out there,
17:23which I don't mind because you can be self-confident, and that's great.
17:27But the only thing about this, Mark, is the Draymond piece where if Yaxel finds himself
17:33blowing a defensive assignment or not getting back on defense quick enough
17:37because he's arguing a call that he's not going to get as a rookie,
17:40then all of a sudden those hard lessons you talked about might be delivered from Draymond
17:45or others in a swift way, as opposed to maybe if he was a younger player
17:50who was a little less braggadocious, I guess.
17:53I want Yaxel to be Yaxel.
17:57Of course.
17:58Yaxel to be Yaxel.
17:59And if you want to live stream and you want to, you know, whatever language you use,
18:04like, honestly, like, you know me, I've joked about this before.
18:08I mean, I'm certainly not talking about the N-word here.
18:12But when it comes to cuss words, I don't even really understand why they became cuss words.
18:17You know what I mean?
18:19Like, what is the difference between the S-word and poop?
18:24Like, I don't know.
18:25I don't know why that became something that is quote-unquote vulgar.
18:30So it doesn't bother me much.
18:32But at the same time, this is the life that we live and the world in which we live.
18:37And therefore, even sometimes when something doesn't bother you, when you're a celebrity especially,
18:44you probably want to at least be mindful of, hey, it doesn't bother me, but does it bother others?
18:49You know what I mean?
18:51And that covers all kinds of speech.
18:53That can be whether it's vulgar words, words in the religious world, all of that.
18:58You just want to be mindful of it.
19:00I'm not telling anybody how to be, but I keep seeing a personality that is very, very large.
19:10And I'm trying to think, you know, you bring up Pods.
19:13I don't consider him a big personality.
19:15It's a little confident and prickly sometimes.
19:19But I don't remember seeing a rookie like Yaxel's personality come to any of the teams around here recently.
19:28I can't really think of a comp.
19:31Would Ayuk fit?
19:33I don't think we felt that way on his way in.
19:36There was clearly stuff going on behind the scenes year two because he showed up after a good rookie year
19:42and immediately ticked Shanahan off.
19:44So I don't know what was happening behind the scenes, but we fans didn't see it.
19:49So I don't know.
19:50I don't know what the comp is the last time somebody was drafted early,
19:54showed up on one of our local teams and kind of did a, I'm here.
19:59Like, I'm here.
20:00I feel like Yaxel feels that.
20:03I'm MVP of the Summer League.
20:04Right.
20:05I'm not disrespectful, but I'm here.
20:07Least score in the national championship game for Michigan.
20:09I'm here.
20:10I think it's a little different in the other sports because, for one, in football,
20:14you got helmets on and you can get absolutely knocked out by your teammate or the opponent
20:20within the purview of the rules, baseball, when you're a rookie, you're usually, I don't know,
20:2523 or 24 by the time you finally eventually get there.
20:29And also, baseball is now new to the swagger in the sport.
20:34You know, bat flips are a new thing.
20:36And pitcher, the pitcher showdown, I was showing you the video of the Mets guy,
20:40Jeffrey, whose name escapes me.
20:42Oh, is it Yon?
20:43Yeah, Jeffrey Yon.
20:44Yeah, yeah.
20:45He's out there doing the splits after a strikeout.
20:47He jumps.
20:48Oh, he's amazing.
20:49And he jumps, like he jumps really high in the air.
20:52And he's a rookie, but he's 30, I think, or older.
20:54And so, those other sports are different.
20:56And in basketball, yeah, here we haven't had that.
20:59And now you've got a guy who's six years of college and a national champion,
21:03and he definitely is confident.
21:04Look, in a general sense, when it comes to sports,
21:08I find it a little bit funny when we talk about cockiness or overconfidence
21:13because I don't know how the hell you do any of this without that.
21:17You have to actually be out of your mind.
21:21You have to be out of your damn mind in order to have the confidence
21:28to be able to achieve these things.
21:31Professional athlete in the NBA, 11th pick in the draft,
21:35you are talking about Powerball-level odds.
21:40Almost.
21:41Tonight.
21:42Tonight.
21:43One billion dollars.
21:45B-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-billion.
21:46Yep, get in.
21:47Yeah, oh, I'm in.
21:48I'm in already, oh, yeah.
21:49Don't worry about that.
21:49Rack them up.
21:50Yeah.
21:50Yeah.
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