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nov 02 2026There was a moment when basketball almost disappeared from Yaxel Lendeborg's life. In his first year at Pennsauken High School in New Jersey, he was removed from the team mid-season due to his grades, and didn't play again until his senior year. When high school ended, he had no college offers and went to work in a warehouse. Six years later, at Chase Center, he scored 37 points against the LA Clippers wearing the No. 11 pick's jersey and a Warriors uniform that, in his first week in the NBA, he has already made his own.
A start nobody expected
Lendeborg arrived in the NBA as an atypical rookie. At 23 years old, he was the oldest first-round pick in the 2026 Draft, and the Warriors selected him for his maturity more than his projection. What few imagined was that in his first week he would be one of the team's most important players.
He made his debut in Los Angeles with 12 points and with the mission Steve Kerr assigned him in his first game: defend Luka Dončić. In the second game he recorded his first double-double, and in the fourth, in Denver, he scored 31 points with 12 rebounds and 6 assists. It was the first time since Stephen Curry in 2010 that a Warriors rookie had surpassed 30 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists in a game. His 87 points in the first four games were the best mark by a Warriors rookie since Wilt Chamberlain in 1959.
Sunday was another step forward. With Curry, Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green and Kristaps Porziņģis out, Golden State needed someone to take over the offense, and Lendeborg scored 37 points on 13-of-19 shooting from the field and 6 three-pointers. It's his new career high, and the Warriors' fourth straight victory, after they started the season 0-3.
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Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and New Jersey
Lendeborg was born in Puerto Rico, where his mother, Yissel Raposo, studied and played basketball and volleyball at the university. His parents had been standout players in the Dominican Republic. The family moved to Ohio when he was two years old and to Pennsauken, New Jersey, when he was eight. He grew up there and nearly lost his connection to basketball. In his senior year of high school, he improved his grades through classes at Camden County College and returned to the team for the final 11 games, winning 10 of them.
The long college road
His starting point was Arizona Western College, a junior college in Yuma. In three seasons he set the NJCAA rebounding record (870) and was a two-time All-American in the category. He signed with St. John's, but the arrival of Rick Pitino to the bench left him without a spot, and he ended up at UAB. In Birmingham he won the AAC Defensive Player of the Year award twice and in his second year led the NCAA in double-doubles (26).
Already with a reputation as a mobile and versatile center, he was one of the most sought-after names in the transfer portal. He declared for the 2025 Draft, where he was projected to go late in the first round, but withdrew to play one final season at Michigan. It was the decision of his career: Big Ten Player of the Year, First-Team All-American, a triple winner with 0.4 seconds remaining against Wisconsin in the conference tournament semifinals, and in April, the national championship after defeating UConn (69-63).
A style that fits the Warriors
At 2.06 meters and over 240 pounds, Lendeborg is not an explosive athlete by NBA standards, but he compensates with strength, basketball IQ and an increasingly reliable hand from beyond the arc. Kerr summed it up after the Denver game: "He's strong as an ox and he's got talent." "He's going to be a player who closes out games," he added. He closed out the final minutes of that game with Curry and Green on the bench.
He also stands out off the court. In his first press conferences he has criticized without hesitation the "flops" and foul-hunting in the league, and he brought his mother to live in California. When he was selected in the Draft, she was undergoing cancer treatment, and he often recalls that her persistence is the reason he is where he is.
