BOSTON (WHDH) - AJ Dybantsa made history this week when he became the first person born in Massachusetts to become the NBA’s number one pick.
Now the Brockton phenom is back home from the draft and talking exclusively with 7’s Amaka Ubaka. And if Dybantsa is a “wizard” on the basketball court, it’s because his hometown helped him hone his powers.
“I want to kind of put Brockton on the map,” said the 19-year-old Brockton native who is officially moving to DC to play for the Washington Wizards.
“I didn’t have any doubts like in my mind,” he recalled. “I was pretty confident that I was gonna go number one.”
As for what it felt like to hear his name called, Dybantsa said, “A little bit of everything, just had a lot of flashbacks of games that I played, workouts that I did, sacrifices that we all made, and I’m just super grateful to spend that time with my family.”
His mother, Chelsea, and his father, Ace, have been by his side every step of the journey.
They realized early on that their son had serious potential while watching him on the court at Saint Sebastian in Needham.
“I remember in the eighth grade when we played at Saint Sebastian, and every time he plays, the crowd is getting bigger and bigger and bigger, so that’s when I knew that something was brewing,” Chelsea said.
Ace added, “Saint Sebastian was a hockey school right when he went there. If he came to basketball school, I mean, the media started coming over because of him, and I was like, he’s going somewhere.”
He became the highest-ranked recruit to ever play for Brigham Young University, going pro after just one year.
When asked about the sacrifices his son has made, Ace said, “Amaka, they have no clue, can’t hang out with his friends, no girlfriends, no birthdays, can’t go to the mall and do what regular kids do cause you have to work. You have to practice three times a day.”
And in between all the practicing, AJ was learning to give back to his community.
“It started like back when I was like four, when I went to the Congo, he brought my sisters and me, and I saw them give away like pins since elementary school, so I kind of got it drilled in me at a young age, you’re gonna end up giving back.”
AJ has already started the AJ Dybantsa Foundation to give back to underprivileged youth.
And Monday he’ll meet with Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Gov. Maura Healey to make a formal pledge to give to the youth of Massachusetts every year.
“I just want to be a role model to anybody in Brockton, just to be able to chase your dream,” he said. “Whatever it is, if you wanna be in the NFL if you wanna be a doctor, if you wanna be a veterinarian, that doesn’t matter, but you put a lot of hard work. You can chase your dream.”
Celtics stars Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum have reached out to show their support.
“Those are probably the two players in the NBA that I’m closest with. Just both of them being in my position, being top high school picks, top college players, the top three picks, they kind of try to get me some advice on how it is, how it’s gonna be, so they’re pretty close to me.”
Now, he gets to look forward to his first game at TD Garden against the Boston Celtics.
“Playing against the Celtics will probably be crazy. I’ve been watching them since I was probably like three years old, four years old, going to different games, going to the finals when they went, so it’ll probably be super surreal.”
(Copyright (c) 2026 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)