![A.J. Dybantsa, Class of 2025, Envisions his Future at Game 1 of the NBA Finals in Andscape A.J. Dybantsa, Class of 2025, Envisions his Future at Game 1 of the NBA Finals in Andscape](https://i1.wp.com/andscape.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/GettyImages-2039509671-e1717785549191.jpg?w=700&w=1200&resize=1200,0&ssl=1)
BOSTON – There was a passionate, lifelong Boston Celtics fan sitting in box 6, row 8, seat 18 during Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday, who should be playing on the same parquet floor inside two years. Local kid AJ Dybantsa also happened to be KeynoteUSA’s No. 1 high school basketball prospect in the class of 2025. And Celtics stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown hope to play against him in the coming years.
“It’s great basketball. I’ve never been to a finals match. The energy here is crazy. Boston is playing well, so everything is good,” Dybantsa told Andscape at halftime of the Celtics’ 107-89 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.
Dybantsa was born on January 29, 2007 in the Boston suburb of Brockton. Her father, Anicet Sr., is originally from Brazzaville, Congo, and her mother Chelsea is from Jamaica. Dybantsa was one year old when Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and the Celtics won the franchise’s last NBA championship in 2008.
Growing up in New England, the 6-foot-9, 200-pound Dybantsa was naturally a fan of all the local professional teams, especially the Celtics. He has attended Celtics games since he was little.
“In Brockton I grew up a Celtics fan,” Dybantsa said. “I came to a couple of games where I got to see Paul Pierce, (Rajon) Rondo and Kevin Garnett. Honestly, I’m rooting for my team now. Honestly, I’m rooting for the best team.”
Prolific Prep forward AJ Dybantsa shoots the ball against Accelerated Prep on February 25 in Napa, California.
Ezra Shaw//Keynote USA/Getty Images
Dybantsa was the 2022 Massachusetts Gatorade Boys Basketball Player of the Year for boys basketball after leading St. Sebastian School to a NEPSAC Class A state championship as a freshman. He moved across the country to play at Prolific Prep in Napa, California, with No. 2 prospect in the Class of 2026, Tyran Stokes, for the past two seasons. Dybantsa won a gold medal with Team USA at the FIBA Americas Under-16 Championship in Mexico in 2023 and starred for the World Team as a junior by scoring a game-high 21 points during the Nike Hoop Summit 2024.
Dybantsa transferred to Utah Prep in the small town of Hurricane, Utah, for his senior year.
“I visited him last week. The campus was great. “We are excited…” Dybantsa said. “My dad really handles all of my recruiting stuff and he felt like it would be the best opportunity my senior year to accomplish the goals I want to accomplish.”
Dybantsa said he will narrow his list of 30 universities to seven in July, but it is to be determined when he will choose one. Dybantsa also has NIL deals, but no agent despite interest from all the basketball industry giants. He said his father has lessened his stress by taking care of most of his recruiting and other basketball business.
While the teenager smiled when asked about his confidence, his style and his outstanding skill set, and was humble when asked about his number one ranking.
“Personally I don’t care,” Dybantsa said. “It’s good that I’m there, but I personally don’t care about my ranking. It’s just a number. I’m not there yet (the NBA). I’m still not where I want to be. There have been number ones that have fallen…
“I don’t know why people become stubborn. “I don’t know why people would think this or that if you haven’t achieved it yet.”
Utah Prep player AJ Dybantsa (right) visits with Hall of Fame center Hakeem Olajuwon (left) in Texas.
The Dybantsa family
Dybantsa has already rubbed shoulders with NBA stars LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Paul George and Jordan Poole. The 17-year-old recently joined the Atlanta-set TNT Tip-Off with former NBA players Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Dirk Nowitzki and host Ernie Johnson. But of all his mentors in the NBA, Dybantsa has leaned on Tatum and Brown the most.
“Obviously I want to get to the league and they are where I want to be,” Dybantsa said. “Them playing for Boston and me being from Boston, I was able to ask them a couple of questions. I’m not very close to them, but they have been mentors to me. Every time they see me, they tell me to keep going, that I’m going to be (in the NBA) in a couple of years and to keep my head straight. It has been well.”
Dybantsa attended the 2023 Jayson Tatum Elite Camp in St. Louis, where NBA players Tatum, Chris Paul, Bradley Beal and Paolo Banchero and NBA rookies Cam Whitmore and Jett Howard served as advisors. Dybantsa told KeynoteUSA that he and his high school classmates Stokes, Cooper Flagg, Derrion Reid, Cam Scott and VJ Edgecombe beat Tatum, Beal, Banchero, Whitmore and Howard in a fight twice. Dybantsa said he received tips from Tatum on how to score and create offensive space at small forward.
“I’ve known him since he was a little kid,” Tatum told Andscape. “Good family. Good kid. He’s the best player in high school. If he stays on the right path and keeps working, I’ll be playing against him soon.”
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A smiling Dybantsa also told Andscape that he defeated Brown “1-0” in a one-on-one game. Brown smiled at that idea and said Dybantsa took the only shot taken in the so-called one-on-one game after controlling the ball.
So how good does Brown think Dybantsa can be?
“It depends if he’s a wing or if he’s a (power forward),” Brown told Andscape. “He has to continue working on his skills as a winger and he will be fine. AJ has to keep working on his game. If he’s more of a (forward), I think he’s going to be perennial. He has to continue working on those ball skills.”
Dybantsa is expected to attend the USA Basketball U-17 training camp in Colorado Springs, Colorado, from June 15-22. He will also play for the renowned AAU Oakland Soldiers at the Peach Jam in July. The list of Soldiers alumni includes James, 2024 Basketball Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups, 2023 NBA champion Aaron Gordon of the Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets star Jalen Green , and former NBA players Brandon Jennings, Kendrick Perkins, Chuck Hayes, Leon Powe, Eddie House. and Drew Gordon.
“AJ is not just trying to play. She’s trying to change the game. LeBron James and Aaron Gordon were equals,” Oakland Soldiers president Mark Olivier told Andscape. “There are certain kids who want to change the game. I listen to AJ talk all the time and the way she articulates what she says tells you nothing but the truth of how she sees it. He is special.
“AJ and Tyran Stokes got a lot of information and that information reaches the other kids on our team. If you look at how AJ works out, he outperforms everyone. He is part of his African ancestry. He just loves the game. That’s a superstar. He is a great kid and very mature.”
Utah Prep player AJ Dybantsa (center) with his mother Chelsea Dybantsa (left) and father Anicet Dybantsa Sr. (right) at Game 1 of the NBA Finals at TD Garden in Boston on June 6.
Many fans recognized Dybantsa at halftime of the first game. He greeted every fan who approached him and forced those who asked to take a photo. Time will tell what kind of NBA player Dybantsa can be, but tonight the high school phenom rooted for his Celtics in the Finals and dreamed big of being an NBA champion one day.
“I just texted my coach telling him I need to be here in the NBA Finals in the next five years,” Dybantsa said excitedly. “This is the highest level of basketball. You can’t get higher than this. The Hall of Fame is the highest level you can get. But in your days as an NBA player, the Finals are the highest you can reach.”
Marc J. Spears is the senior NBA writer for Andscape. He used to be able to dunk, but he hasn’t been able to do it for years and his knees still hurt.
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