It’s no secret that it is the mother of Golden State Warriors star rookie Yaxel Lendeborg who deserves more credit for his current success in the NBA than just about anyone, perhaps including Lendeborg himself. Not only is his mom, Yissel Raposo, a former member of the Dominican national basketball and volleyball teams, but she also is the one who spurred Lendeborg to snap out of a teenage life spent dawdling on video games and struggling with academics and start motivating himself. He played some high school basketball, and it was Raposo who pushed him to keep playing, at Arizona Western junior college. Eventually, Lendeborg fell in love with the game that would take him to Alabama-Birmingham and on to a championship at Michigan before landing in the NBA with the No. 11 pick.
As Lendeborg wrote in a Players’ Tribune essay: “In every lifetime, I would pick the same mom every time.”
Warriors’ Yaxel Lendeborg Buys Mom a House
Since arriving in the NBA, Lendeborg went from drawing leaguewide scorn for trash-talking Luka Doncic in the Warriors opener to being seen as the potential savior of Stephen Curry’s late career. He is averaging 21.0 points, 7.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists so far, shooting 49.2% from the field and 39.6% from the 3-point line.
This week, the young Warriors star did a heart-warming thing. In a YouTube video Lendeborg recorded with others, he is shown arriving at a house with his mother and some other attendees. His mother appears somewhat confused as Lendeborg says, “On behalf of everyone who showed up … Welcome home.”
Yes, Lendeborg bought his mother a house. As she realizes it, she turns her head down and starts to cry. The video features the affable young star repeating, “Welcome home,” with a tour of the house. (Tissues might be required before viewing.)
Lendeborg wrote on Twitter/X: “Lifelong goal has finally been accomplished. Blessed!”
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