Yaxel Lendeborg. Image via: Mike Kirschbaum/NBAE via Getty ImagesYaxel Lendeborg earned Summer League championship game MVP honors after leading the Golden State Warriors past the Memphis Grizzlies 94-90 in the 2026 NBA Summer League title game on Sunday in Las Vegas.The Warriors' first-round pick posted 21 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and two steals, capping a breakout six-game run in Las Vegas that announced him as one of the league's most promising rookies.Golden State trailed by 10 entering the fourth quarter before Lendeborg's late surge sealed the franchise's first Summer League title since 2013.Who is Warriors star Yaxel Lendeborg?Lendeborg was born in Puerto Rico and starred at the University of Michigan before Golden State selected him No. 11 overall in the 2026 NBA Draft. He arrived at the Summer League title game fresh off a Michigan national championship, and he carried that momentum into Las Vegas, averaging 14.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists across six appearances.In the championship game itself, Lendeborg shot 9 of 18 from the field and hit a go-ahead three-pointer with just over two minutes remaining, giving the Warriors their first lead since the middle of the third quarter. He followed it with a midrange pull-up that forced a Memphis timeout, then grabbed a critical rebound after the Grizzlies missed a potential go-ahead three in the closing seconds. Deivon Smith added 21 points off the bench, while Memphis got 19 points apiece from Cameron Boozer and Cedric Coward in the loss.Who are Yaxel Lendeborg's parents?Basketball runs in Lendeborg's family. His mother, Yissel Raposo, and father, Okary Lendeborg, both played for the Dominican Republic national basketball team, and Yissel also competed for the country's national volleyball team. She was playing both sports collegiately at the American University of Puerto Rico when Yaxel was born, while his father played professionally overseas. Lendeborg has credited his parents directly for his athletic gifts, telling MLive.com he has natural ability that just comes from my parents.Yaxel Lendeborg's mom has a huge role in his careeraxel Lendeborg and his mom Yissel Raposo. Image via: Yaxel Lendeborg/XYissel's influence on her son's path has been constant and, at times, decisive. She bought him NBA gear as a child and recalled him always answering that he wanted to reach the league.When academic struggles made him ineligible to play basketball for two years in high school, Yissel intervened during his senior year, arranging his transfer to a program in Camden, New Jersey, and later using her connections from her playing days in the Dominican system to get him into a camp in New York that led to a scholarship offer from Arizona Western College. Lendeborg has said his mother essentially put him on a plane to Arizona despite his own hesitation.In a February 2026 essay for The Players' Tribune, Lendeborg wrote about his mother's cancer diagnosis and his drive to make her proud, saying he wanted to cut down the nets at Michigan's national championship run most of all for her. He was later seen in tears embracing her after Golden State drafted him, telling ESPN's Lisa Salters he was glad to share that moment with her.Inside Yaxel Lendeborg's relationship with his fatherLendeborg has been more guarded about his relationship with his father, describing tension that grew more hostile at points during his upbringing. He has written that his mother tried to help the two find common ground without much success (via PEOPLE).He has also spoken about leaning on his grandfather, Yissel's father, as an early father figure, and about struggling with motivation after his grandfather's death before his mother helped redirect him toward basketball and school.