Yaxel Lendeborg
American-Dominican basketball player (born 2002)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Yaxel Okari Lendeborg (born September 30, 2002) is an American-Dominican basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was drafted 11th overall in the 2026 NBA draft by the Warriors. Previously, he played college basketball for the Arizona Western Matadors, UAB Blazers and Michigan Wolverines.
Lendeborg with the 2025–26 Michigan Wolverines | |
| No. 1 – Golden State Warriors | |
|---|---|
| Position | Small forward / power forward |
| League | NBA |
| Personal information | |
| Born | September 30, 2002 |
| Listed height | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) |
| Listed weight | 240 lb (109 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Pennsauken (Pennsauken Township, New Jersey) |
| College |
|
| NBA draft | 2026: 1st round, 11th overall pick |
| Drafted by | Golden State Warriors |
| Playing career | 2026–present |
| Career history | |
| 2026–present | Golden State Warriors |
| Career highlights | |
| |
| Stats at NBA.com | |
| Stats at Basketball Reference | |
In college, he was an NCAA national champion, consensus All-American and the Big Ten Player of the Year with Michigan in 2026.
Early life
Lendeborg was born on September 30, 2002.[1] His parents are mother Yissel Raposo, whose father introduced Yaxel to basketball, and his father is Okary Lendeborg. [2] His mother Yissel Raposo played basketball and volleyball at The American University of Puerto Rico.[3] His mother played on the Women's National Basketball team of the Dominican Republic and his father played on the Men's National Basketball Team of the Dominican Republic.[4] He was born in Puerto Rico and his family moved to Ohio when he was two years old.[5] He is of Dominican descent, with both his parents having been top basketball players in the country.[6] He later moved with his family to Pennsauken Township, New Jersey, when he was eight.[7] He attended Pennsauken High School and tried out for the basketball team; he made the squad as a freshman, but was cut from the team mid-season due to poor academic performance.[7]
Lendeborg later missed the next two seasons due to poor grades as well.[7] As a senior, he entered a dual-enrollment program with Camden County College and his grades improved enough that he was able to join the Pennsauken varsity basketball team with 11 games left in the season.[7] In 11 games played, he helped Pennsauken compile a record of 10–1.[8]
After high school, Lendeborg worked in a warehouse and did not initially expect to play college basketball.[9] However, his mother encouraged him to pursue ball.[9] After his family secured him a place at a showcase for players of Dominican descent, Arizona Western saw a clip of him on social media and offered him their final available scholarship.[10] He signed to play college basketball for the Arizona Western Matadors.[8]
College career
Arizona Western
As a freshman at Arizona Western in 2020–21, Lendeborg played in a COVID-19 shortened season and averaged 6.1 points and 7.1 rebounds in 14 games.[8] The following season, he appeared in 31 games and averaged 12.0 points and 11.0 rebounds per game, leading his conference in rebounds and was named a third-team National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) All-American, first-team all-region, the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference (ACCAC) Player of the Year and the ACCAC Freshman of the Year. In the 2022–23 season with the Matadors, he was named a second-team All-American, first-team all-region and the ACCAC Player of the Year. Lendeborg averaged 17.2 points and an NJCAA-leading 13.0 rebounds per game in his final season.[11][12] He finished his tenure at Arizona Western as the NJCAA's all-time leading rebounder with 429 total.[5] After finishing his career at Arizona Western, Lendeborg signed his national letter of intent to play for the St. John's Red Storm in November 2022. However, he was not retained after the hiring of new head coach Rick Pitino in 2023.[11]
UAB
On April 29, 2023, Lendeborg transferred to the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) to play for the Blazers following his career at Arizona Western.[13][14] On November 25, 2023, in the sixth game of the season he recorded his first career NCAA double-double against Furman; scoring 19 points, ten rebounds and adding five blocked shots.[15] On January 2, 2024, Lendeborg had 23 points, 15 rebounds and a career-high seven blocked shots against UTSA.[15] On February 8, he scored 17 points and had a career-high 21 rebounds against Florida Atlantic and his future head coach Dusty May.[15] In total during the 2023–24 season, he played in 35 games and averaged 13.8 points, 10.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2.1 blocks per game, earning the American Athletic Conference (AAC) Defensive Player of the Year, the 2024 AAC tournament MVP and first-team All-AAC honors.[16]
Lendeborg returned to UAB for a second season in 2024–25.[17] On March 14, 2025, he scored 30 points, 20 rebounds, eight assists, five steals and four blocked shots against East Carolina in the 2025 AAC tournament. The points, assists and steals were each career highs.[15] In 2024–25, Lendeborg repeated as an All-AAC first-team selection, and the AAC Defensive Player of the Year. He became the fifth player in UAB Blazers history to score 1,000 points in a span of two seasons.[18]
Lendeborg started all 37 games for the Blazers, averaging 17.7 points, 11.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.8 blocks and 1.7 steals per game.[19] At the end of the 2024–25 regular season, he led UAB in scoring, rebounding, assists, blocks and steals.[20] He became one of only two players in NCAA division one history to record over 600 points, 400 rebounds and 150 assists in a single season, joining legend Larry Bird.[21] In addition, Lendeborg led the NCAA with 26 double-doubles and recorded a program single-season record of 420 total rebounds.[22][23] Lendeborg also holds the program record with 45 career double-doubles, was the 25th member of the 1,000-point club (1,136), fifth in rebounds (790) and fourth in blocked shots (138).[24]
Following the season, he entered the NCAA transfer portal and was the No. 1 ranked player in the portal according to 247Sports, CBS Sports and On3.com, while The Athletic ranked him second and ESPN ranked him third.[25][26]
Michigan
On April 5, 2025, Lendeborg transferred to the University of Michigan to play for Dusty May and the Wolverines. He also entered the 2025 NBA draft process in addition to transferring.[21] On May 27, he withdrew from the NBA draft and chose to play his final season of college basketball in Ann Arbor.[27] Lendeborg was projected to be a late-first-round or early-second-round selection in the draft, with the potential to earn $2.7 million in the first year and $14 million total in a four-year rookie contract if selected in the late first round. It was believed that Michigan offered around $3 million in guaranteed name, image and likeness (NIL) compensation to sway him.[28][29][30] It is believed that Michigan gave Lendeborg about $5 million between NIL and revenue share and that this was less than the $7–9 million deal Kentucky had offered him.[31]
Lendeborg was named a preseason first-team All-American by the Associated Press, Blue Ribbon Yearbook, ESPN and SB Nation; as well as a second-team selection by CBS Sports, Sports Illustrated, The Sporting News and USA Today.[32][33][34] He was Joe Lunardi and SB Nation’s preseason National Player of the Year.[34][35] He was also named to the preseason Naismith College Player of the Year, NABC Player of the Year and Karl Malone Award watchlists.[32]
After playing primarily at center or power forward earlier in his career, Lendeborg moved to the perimeter at Michigan following the additions of Morez Johnson Jr. and Aday Mara. In his first season as a wing, he made 67 three-pointers at 37.2 percent, compared with 25 at 35.7 percent during his final UAB season.[36]
On November 3 against Oakland, Lendeborg was limited in his debut with a right hand injury. He came off the bench and recorded twelve points (100% shooting: 4 FG, 2 FT), four rebounds and three assists.[37] In late November, he led the Wolverines to a championship in the 2025 Players Era Festival, defeating San Diego State by 40 points, No. 21 Auburn by 30 points and No. 12 Gonzaga by 40 points.[38] Lendeborg was named the Players Era Championship MVP after averaging 17.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.3 blocks per game.[39] He was also named as the week four Big Ten Conference Player of the Week and the Associated Press National Player of the Week.[39][40] On December 13 against Maryland, Lendeborg had a season-high 29 points, career-high nine assists, eight rebounds, three blocks and two steals.[41][42] Lendeborg was named on the January 25-person Wooden Award midseason watchlist.[43]
On January 30, 2026, Michigan defeated No. 7 Michigan State in their in-state rivalry game, 83–71, behind 26 points and 12 rebounds from Lendeborg; his fourth double-double of the season.[44][45] On February 8, Michigan defeated Ohio State 82–61 in the rivalry rematch. Lendeborg posted 14 points and a season-high 14 rebounds.[46][47] Lendeborg was named on the February 20-person Wooden late midseason watchlist, which clarified that the official final ballot would be a 15-man list.[48] On March 8, Lendeborg scored 27 points in a win against No. 8 Michigan State. Michigan finished as the Big Ten regular-season champions and with an all-time conference record for wins, 19–1. In his two games versus the Spartans he scored 53 points.[49]
Following the regular season, he was named Big Ten Player of the Year by both the coaches and media; Michigan's first player of the year honoree since Nik Stauskas in 2014. Lendeborg was also first-team All-Big Ten by the coaches and media, the conference's only unanimous first-team selection by the latter, and joined his teammates, Morez Johnson Jr. and Aday Mara, on the Big Ten All-Defensive Team.[50][51]
Michigan teammates nicknamed Lendeborg ‘Dominican LeBron.’ Guard LJ Cason originated the nickname after Lendeborg blocked a shot and completed a transition dunk during a preseason practice.[52]
Nationally, Lendeborg was selected as a consensus first-team All-American by the four major selectors: Associated Press, National Association of Basketball Coaches, The Sporting News and the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. He became the ninth consensus All-American in Michigan basketball history, 11th all-time selection, and the first since Trey Burke in 2013.[53][54][55][56] He was also a first-team selection by Bleacher Report, ESPN and others.[57][58]
On March 14, in the 2026 Big Ten tournament semifinal against Wisconsin, Lendeborg made the game-winning three-point shot with 0.4 seconds remaining to advance to the championship game.[59][60] In the 2026 NCAA tournament, Lendeborg was named the Midwest Region MVP, as Michigan advanced to the Final Four. He became the first Michigan player to score at least 20 points in three consecutive NCAA tournament games since Juwan Howard in 1994.[61][62] On April 6, he won the 2026 national championship as Michigan defeated UConn, 69–63, to win the program's first national title since 1989.[63] For the season, he led the nation in plus-minus.[64]
Professional career
NBA draft
Lendeborg withdrew from the 2025 NBA draft,[27] stating he did not feel mentally prepared for NBA life.[65] In 2026, he declared for the 2026 NBA draft on April 15 this time stating that he felt prepared following his successful season at Michigan.[66][65]
On June 23, 2026, he was selected with the eleventh overall pick by the Golden State Warriors in the 2026 NBA draft.[67] To celebrate, he held a private draft night party with family, teammates, and supporters at a Peerspace venue in Manhattan.[68] When he was drafted, his mother, Yissel Raposo, was undergoing treatment for appendix cancer. Lendeborg credited her persistence and support with helping him reach college basketball and ultimately the NBA.[69]
At 23, Lendeborg was the oldest player selected in the first round of the 2026 NBA draft and was at least three years older than each of the ten players chosen ahead of him.[70] He became one of the three teammates from the Michigan Wolverines to be drafted in the lottery, joining Mara and Johnson Jr.[71]
Golden State Warriors (2026–present)
He signed his first professional contract with the Warriors on July 1, 2026.[72] The rookie-scale contract was worth $28.1 million over four years, including $12.5 million guaranteed. The third and fourth seasons are team options.[73]
The next day, Lendeborg was announced to participate with the team during the 2026 NBA Summer League, along with fellow draftee Lajae Jones (2026 No. 54 pick).[74] In his July 3, 2026 California Classic Summer League debut, he scored 19 points on a perfect shooting night (6-of-6 field goals with 4-of-4 on three-point shots) with five rebounds and six assists against the Los Angeles Lakers' summer league team.[75][76][77] He led the Warriors to the 2026 NBA Summer League Championship, earning the Summer League Championship MVP for his 21 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and two steals in an 94–90 win to avenge a Summer League loss to the Boozer-led Memphis Grizzlies.[78][79]
National team career
In August 2022, Lendeborg represented the Dominican Republic national select team in an exhibition against the Kentucky Wildcats in the Bahamas.[80]
Career statistics
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
College
NJCAA
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020–21 | Arizona Western | 14 | 4 | 19.2 | .714 | .000 | .552 | 7.1 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 6.1 |
| 2021–22 | Arizona Western | 31 | 30 | 30.4 | .607 | .357 | .722 | 11.0 | 2.6 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 12.0 |
| 2022–23 | Arizona Western | 33 | 26 | 30.0 | .727 | .438 | .647 | 13.0 | 2.6 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 17.2 |
| Career | 78 | 60 | 28.2 | .679 | .387 | .667 | 11.2 | 2.2 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 13.2 | |