This story originally appeared on Red Bull’s website ahead of AJ Dybantsa’s Boston homecoming game.
AJ Dybantsa found out in the spring, shortly after committing to BYU, that the school planned a Hall of Fame showcase game specifically to play near where he grew up against Connecticut – winners of two out of the previous three national championships.
Dybantsa stressed focusing on the game over the atmosphere. He may stop by his favorite Brockton spots like Miko’s Cafe for breakfast or Flava Jamaica, he said. Though none of them beat his mother Chelsea’s cooking – her Thanksgiving candied yams remain his favorite.
“My oldest sister is still back home, so I’m gonna definitely go check in with her, but whoever I can see that’s not really interfering with my schedule, basketball-wise, or costing me sleep, I’ll definitely try to get with them,” Dybantsa said. “I’ll definitely try to go hit some of my favorite food spots back up, but other than that, just keep the game plan.”
“I don’t really do a lot,” he added. “I just play basketball. I watch basketball and everything is pretty much basketball.” It wasn’t always that way. Just 25 miles south in Brockton, the sixth-largest city in Massachusetts long known for athletics, Dybantsa didn’t show much interest in the sport. His father, Ace Dybantsa hoped he would.
Initially, Dybantsa played for fun at his local YMCA and Brockton Community Basketball. His house stood near South Junior High, a popular spot for runs. You could also find him at East Junior High and Brockton High. He learned about AAU and brought that idea to his father.
Before long, he alerted his dad that he probably wouldn’t need that free tuition at BU. More than 30 of the top college basketball teams all over the country would recruit him.
“I didn’t start loving basketball until COVID,” Dybantsa said. “When I started practicing every day and working every day, and I just figured out that I can actually do something with basketball, go to school for free and potentially even beyond, I just fell in love with the game and started hating to lose and loving to win.”
Dybantsa’s love for his hometown extends beyond basketball – it’s rooted in the city’s rich sports culture. His unwavering loyalty to Boston teams is something those close to him know well. “Anything Boston – basketball, football, baseball – he’s locked in,” BYU assistant Brandon Dunson said. “You can’t tell him anything bad about Boston sports.”
His passion for the Celtics developed when his father first brought him to a game during the Paul Pierce era. AJ wore Kevin Garnett’s No. 5 as his first NBA jersey. Garnett and Dybantsa later met at Summer League in Las Vegas, Dybantsa becoming a bigger fan of his passion and defense after watching his highlights.
Isaiah Thomas returned the Celtics to the playoffs after Garnett’s departure, and Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum took over the team into Dybantsa’s teenage years. They created the greatest basketball moments in the Garden since its opening 30 years ago. Now, Dybantsa can add his own in front of friends, family and former teammates, along with plenty of Huskie detractors he’s preparing to tune out.
“You can’t really think about the outside noise too much,” Dybantsa said. “Connecticut’s pretty close, so I can only imagine it might be like 75-25 UConn (fans). Could be 50-50, could be more UConn fans, but there are BYU fans everywhere and also me being from that area, I think a lot of people come show support to me. So I’m really gonna find out when we get there, what the split is gonna be.”
Dybantsa returns to Boston at a time when many fans want to see him land with the Celtics in next spring’s NBA Draft. He acknowledged he’s heard those calls and reflected on the possibility that there’s at least an outside chance he could land with his favorite childhood team.
Have you heard the calls by some Celtics fans that they want the team to tank for you?
“I’ve actually been on Twitter a little bit more, trying to see my engagement, obviously, I’ve been getting a little bit more followers on Twitter, so I’ve been trying to like engage more, but yeah, I’ve been seeing those, I get tagged them all the time. So obviously I’m seeing it and then they’re tagging me on Instagram and all these different social media platforms, so I’m definitely seeing it.”
What do you think when you read that?
“It’s two things. One, that my hometown acknowledges me and they see my talent and obviously they want me to play and represent my hometown, which is a plus, but at the end of the day, it’s not my choice, the lottery does what it does. The NBA does what it does. It’s not my choice to play for whatever team, so I’m just gonna be grateful for whoever drafts me, whenever that is, and I’m just gonna make the most out of every opportunity if that’s Boston or if it’s not.”
It would be pretty cool though, wouldn’t it?
“Like I said, my favorite team is the Celtics to watch as a fan, but I don’t know how different it would be whenever I’m make it to the NBA. They might still be my favorite team or my favorite team might be the team that I get drafted to, so who knows.”
How do you think you would fit with Brown and Tatum?
“If the gods, the basketball gods ever made that workout, I think that, we both kind of, all three play similar positions. I think we can each play the guard or the wing. Soo if it ever happened, I think their games complement each other well, Tatum and Brown, and I think I am pretty adaptable and I’m pretty flexible to play multiple positions, so I think that it really wouldn’t hurt anybody’s game, it would only enhance it if it came down to that.”
