Luka Dončić scored 52 points as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Utah Jazz 132-123 on Sunday, and he made sure former teammate Jaxson Hayes heard from him along the way. The Lakers star answered Hayes’ trash talk with a 3-pointer and a six-word reply.
During a stoppage, Hayes also appeared to call Dončić a “flopper,” though the broadcast did not pick up his voice. The back-and-forth came four days after Golden State Warriors rookie Yaxel Lendeborg jawed with Dončić throughout the season opener.
Luka Dončić Answers His Lakers Former Teammate With a Pull-Up 3
Hayes was chirping from the Jazz bench as Dončić brought the ball up the floor. The Slovenian star pulled up, buried the shot, and then told the 7-foot center, “You know better than that, Jax.”
The two exchanged a few words near the sideline as well. They know each other well. Hayes spent three years with the Lakers and shared a locker room with Dončić for a season and a half before signing a two-year, $12 million contract with Utah this summer.
In June, Hayes received a Slovenian passport and became a naturalized citizen of Dončić’s home country for international play.
Dončić shot 17-of-30 from the field, including 8-of-18 from 3-point range, and added 10 assists and 8 rebounds in 38 minutes. He went 10-of-11 at the free-throw line after leading the NBA in free-throw attempts per game last season, and the Lakers won after trailing by as many as 18 points.
Hayes had 9 points and 5 rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench as Utah fell to 1-2. The incident took place days after Dončić’s row with Lendeborg when the Lakers faced the Warriors.
Lendeborg spent much of his NBA debut on Oct. 21 guarding Dončić in a 127-105 Lakers win. The Warriors rookie was called for a technical foul late in the second quarter, and moments later Dončić banked in a shot from beyond half court at the buzzer and pointed at him.
Lendeborg finished with 12 points in 29 minutes. Three of his four personal fouls sent Dončić to the free-throw line, and after the game the rookie explained what set him off.
“Being in there first-hand, just watching all the whining and complaining, I lost all respect, man. … Like, me getting frustrated, it’s not about like, the foul getting called. It’s about him complaining the entire game. Then you get the foul call, congratulations bro, and then you talk to me like you did something great, bro? Come on, dog.”
Asked what he said to Dončić, the 24-year-old answered: “I told him he sucks. He can’t score on me.”
Dončić led all scorers with 28 points on 7-of-18 shooting that night. Afterward, he gave his own explanation: “Everybody knows when somebody starts talking, you get a different me.”
The Lakers, in their first season since LeBron James left to join the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency, are 3-0. They host the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday and visit Lendeborg and the Warriors at Chase Center on Oct. 30. The Jazz come to crypto.com Arena on Nov. 18 and Nov. 23.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.