Sports

UAB Hoops Star Responds To Memphis Basketball Player’s Shade After Being Put On A Poster

#College Basketball
by Last Updated
Memphis basketball player Dain Dainja secures the ball.

© Chris Day/The Commercial Appeal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images


The Memphis basketball team picked up a league win over rival UAB on Sunday to improve to 16-4 on the season. After the game, Tigers forward Dain Dainja threw some shade at Yaxel Lendeborg.

Lendeborg was the AAC preseason pick to win Player of the Year honors. He’s backed it up on the floor, averaging 16.9 points and 10.1 boards for the Blazers.

The duo faced off in the paint this weekend, with both sides posting monster nights. Dainja scored a season-high 21 points on 10-of-12 shooting. He also brought down eight rebounds.

Lendeborg, meanwhile, racked up 18 points and 10 boards for another double-double. Dainja wasn’t impressed by the showing. After the game, he questioned the media’s decision to name Lendeborg the conference’s Player of the Year honor.

“I didn’t even know who he was. I didn’t know he was preseason Player of the Year until we scouted him… No disrespect, I just didn’t see it.”

-Dain Dainja on Yaxel Lendeborg

Dainja says he didn’t know who Lendeborg was prior to Memphis basketball’s 23-point win. He then proceeded to continue throwing his shade with a series of posts on Instagram.

Dainja put Lendeborg on a poster with a massive slam dunk in that contest. He then relived the moment time and again on social media after the fact.

Yaxel Lendeborg responded to Dain Dainja’s shade on X soon after seeing the hate go viral. He sarcastically congratulated Dainja on a career-night.

There appears to be no love lost between the two sides following Memphis’s blowout win on the basketball court. Dainja celebrated his team’s performance at the expense of a rival. Lendeborg will have a chance to get revenge when the squads meet again in early March.