Draymond Green didn’t hold back when exposing his newest teammate on his podcast “The Draymond Green Show” on Tuesday.
Yaxel Lendeborg said he didn’t hear from Green, after being selected as the No.11 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, Green publicly called him out on his podcast, “The Draymond Green Show,” and called him a “F— liar,” and went on to say, “It’s the Michigan way, of course it’s the Michigan way.”
Yaxel said Steph Curry welcomed him and Lajae to the Warriors groupchat:
“Steph actually welcomed both of us in the groupchat the night of the drafts, when he (Lajae) got drafted, I got drafted. And I reached out to him yesterday I asked one quick question and then I reached out… pic.twitter.com/PiwaYs53oZ
“Yaxel’s been f—— lying,” Green said. “I was very happy to expose the rookie on the internet. This guy, texts me. I text back within 30 seconds. …It’s my responsibility as a veteran to help you be in the best position that you can be to be successful and take over this franchise.”
Draymond Green calls out Yaxel Lendeborg for saying Green didn’t text him back. NBAE via Getty Images
Green went on to say that he had to expose him a little bit and gave him a warning by informing him that his credibility is everything.
As Green continued to speak, he didn’t rule out the possibility of bringing back rookie hazing, as he said the Warriors aren’t a team that participates in those kinds of activities anymore, but could bring it back.
“We’ve just never been that team, pouring in on rookie hazing,” Green said. “But we can pick that back up. We can definitely make it a little more interesting.”
Green said he’s been a part of some rookie hazing before in the past, as it involved popcorn and some tires going missing.
The clip finished with Green telling Lendeborg to “tread lightly,” as he said his rookie duties could start to increase as the season goes on, and added that there could be a day when the rookie has to drive out to a particular Best Buy to purchase a PlayStation 5.
Since Lendeborg got selected by the Warriors a week ago, he’s been receptive to some criticism for saying he grew up hating Curry as a kid, because he grew up a fan of Kyrie Irving, and calling out his new head coach, Steve Kerr, for not playing rookies.
Willson Contreras breaks down in tears after home run, gets ejected the next inning
Willson Contreras argues with an umpire after getting ejecting in the second inning against the Washington Nationals at Fenway Park. Jaiden Tripi / Getty Images
BOSTON — In the span of two innings, Willson Contreras hit a monstrous three-run homer for the Boston Red Sox, broke down in tears in the dugout with his native Venezuela on his mind, and then was ejected the following inning after striking out for tapping his helmet.
But this past week has been particularly tough for Contreras, who’s been raising money for Venezuelan earthquake victims and speaking passionately about his home country. Contreras has the letters “VZ” embroidered on his hat, as do fellow Venezuelan teammates Wilyer Abreu, Carlos Narváez and Ranger Suarez, who started Monday’s game. The Red Sox have five Venezuelans on their roster, including utility man Andruw Monasterio.
“He’s going through a lot,” interim manager Chad Tracy said of Contreras. “They all are.”
With the Red Sox trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the first, Contreras crushed a 421-foot homer over the wall in left field at Fenway Park to take the lead. He threw his bat with force and screamed “Venezuela” as he ran to first base.
“I think it’s just the emotional part of Venezuela that got to me, got the best out of me,” Contreras said after a 6-3 win over the Washington Nationals, a season-high fifth win in a row for the Red Sox. “I wasn’t feeling good the whole day, I was kind of down, sad and I hit a homer, of course. I tried to help my dugout, but the first thing that I said was it’s for Venezuela. Of course, I’m helping the team to win, and it’s good, but I think every homer from now on is going to be for the Red Sox and for Venezuela.”
Back in the dugout, Contreras sat on the bench and broke down, his head in his hands. Abreu and Narváez came over to hug him, as did interim manager Chad Tracy.
But in the bottom of the second, Contreras came to the plate again, this time striking out on a check swing. Frustrated by the call, he tapped the top of his helmet as if to sarcastically challenge it as he walked back to the dugout.
First base umpire Nic Lentz seemed to take exception to the gesture and ejected Contreras. Tracy ran out for an explanation before Contreras joined him, but Lentz didn’t relent.
“Willson tapped his helmet as a gesture, like, “Hey, can we check?” you know, jokingly check the check swing, which we know you can’t,” Tracy said. “So (Lentz) felt like he showed him up and threw him out of the game. I didn’t even know until I got out there kind of what was going on.”
Lentz offered his own explanation through a pool reporter.
“I called him out on appeal for the check swing, and as he was walking back to the dugout, he started gesturing, tapping his helmet, like he wanted to challenge something that is not a challengeable call,” Lentz said. “And so, disrespect, and again gesturing towards what he thought was an incorrect call, got him removed from the game.”
Lentz said it’s an automatic ejection if an umpire deems a player is mocking him.
“Correct,” he said. “It’s a lot like drawing a line in the dirt.”
Contreras was surprised by the ejection given he felt he has a good relationship with Lentz.
“Man, kind of surprising,” Contreras said. “Nick and I have a really good relationship. We had a really good talk right before the game. He also mentioned Venezuela, which is good for him to know about it. I think it kind of surprised me because I never made eye contact with him.”
Contreras said he wasn’t tapping his head in reference to Lentz.
“I was like, yeah, I didn’t make eye contact with you, I didn’t argue, I didn’t yell, I didn’t do nothing wrong,” Contreras said. “He told me, yeah, but I have to throw you out. I was like, you didn’t have to, but you made that choice. That’s it.”
Willson Contreras was tossed by 1B Ump Nic Lentz for tapping his helmet walking back to the dugout. Absolutely insane. What a power trip. pic.twitter.com/kgRgUsU532
Willson Contreras with one of the weirdest ejections I've ever seen. He even came back on the field and had a full conversation about it. pic.twitter.com/xIDasGlSRL
On Saturday night after another big home run, Contreras spoke at length about the tragedies in Venezuela.
“It’s tough, it’s tough, it’s really tough to see what’s going on in Venezuela,” he said. “On January 3, we had some good news with the USA getting to Venezuela and taking some people out. That was kind of a little bit of happiness for the Venezuelan people, and then we won the WBC, which was the biggest happiness for Venezuela. And now we got hit with two earthquakes — with two earthquakes and more than 1,000 deaths. Probably more than that. I don’t know. It’s really sad to live through this.
“It’s really hard to separate or fake that we are (feeling) good just because we have to work. I mean, we’re professional. We have to show up and work. But it’s really tough when you know what’s going on in Venezuela, you’re here playing for your team, trying to win the game, trying to perform, and at the same time, trying to seek ways to help. I wish I could be there, to be honest, to find people. That’s where my heart was.”
Contreras has been using his Instagram account to do what he can from afar.
“We are getting together donations and things that we can ship to Venezuela, and we have some types of groups helping in Venezuela, and now (the country is) denying the access to those people that want to help because they’re not part of the government,” he said. “So that’s how tough the Venezuelan situation is.”
Over the weekend, Hall of Famer David Ortiz, a native of the Dominican Republic, joined Contreras, Narváez and Abreu on Jersey Street to collect donations for Venezuela earthquake victims through the Red Sox Foundation’s Venezuelan Earthquake Disaster Relief Efforts fund.
