No. 1 NBA Draft pick and Brockton native AJ Dybantsa honored at Boston City Hall and State House
AJ Dybantsa is less than a week removed from becoming the first Massachusetts-born player selected No. 1 in the NBA Draft, and is still months away from his professional debut. But on Monday, the city of Boston celebrated the impact he’s already made beyond basketball and his commitment to the communities that shaped him.
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Mayor Michelle Wu declared Monday AJ Dybantsa Jr. Day in Boston, honoring not only his achievement as the No. 1 pick in last week’s draft but also his commitment to channeling his success back into Greater Boston.
“This is what we do in the city of Boston to honor the greats that come through,” Wu said. “Especially our own homegrown.”
As the first Massachusetts-born player selected No. 1, Dybantsa was honored by Wu and Governor Maura Healey during ceremonies at Boston City Hall and the State House.
Dybantsa came bearing gifts.
He presented Wu and Healey with No. 4 Washington Wizards jerseys.
“Since you’re now a Wizards fan,” he said.
He signed each jersey, “The City of Champs,” a message that wasn’t lost on Healey.
“You always make a point of honoring Brockton, mentioning Brockton, and thinking of the kids in Brockton in the work that you do,” she said. “And that’s something that’s really special about AJ. He’s going to have great success on the court, we know that.
“But he’s going to have great success off the court. And I think because of what you’re doing and what you’re supporting and funding and promoting with these kids, you’re setting these kids up for success in life. And that is going to be more important than any point you score in life.”
In February, Dybantsa launched the AJ Dybantsa Foundation with the stated mission of empowering youth and supporting the communities that shaped him, from Brockton to his father’s home country of Congo, and Jamaica, where his mother was born.
The foundation already has led multiple initiatives to support schools in the Brockton and Boston areas, including back-to-school drives, gear giveaways, academic development and math literacy programs, and care package distributions.
Healey presented Dybantsa with a citation recognizing his commitment as a Boston-born, Brockton-raised leader for students on and off the court.
“I’m psyched to see what AJ’s going to do, taking it to the next level,” Healey said. “I also think that having AJ out there is going to be an inspiration to so many other kids in the area. Kids from Brockton, kids from Greater Boston, kids around New England. He’s a kid who grew up here. He played here, he trained here. He worked out here. And he’s one of them. Obviously supremely gifted, but nevertheless, I think these kinds of things inspire our young people, and I think it’s going to continue to feed the quality and the level of players coming out of Massachusetts.”
Dybantsa also visited Wu’s office to offer advice to four Boston-area student-athletes, including Charles Allen Jr. of Madison Park and Jahmari Harrell of Cathedral, along with Tyrik Wilson, Boston’s youth sports initiative manager.
“Things like this are so dope to me because I’ve been on both sides of it,” Wilson said. “I was born and raised here and played with a lot of talented players and watched a lot of talented people grow around me. They all have good hearts, but not all of them take the time to come back, give back, and be present. It’s also a lot. So to really take that time and navigate through that and create foundations like AJ has and find ways to still give back and be around and go to your former high school is [special].”
Giving back always has been part of the vision Dybantsa had for himself.
“It just means a lot,” he said. “But it’s something I wanted to do. Not everybody’s going to do it, but I’ve been wanting to give back to my community, my family, since the start. They had my back since the start.”
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