{"id":3230,"date":"2026-06-21T10:03:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T10:03:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3230"},"modified":"2026-06-21T10:03:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T10:03:09","slug":"aj-dybantsa-could-be-the-first-no-1-pick-in-nba-draft-from-massachusetts-in-41-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3230","title":{"rendered":"AJ Dybantsa could be the first No. 1 pick in NBA Draft from Massachusetts in 41 years"},"content":{"rendered":"<article>\n<div>\n<p><span>The last time a Massachusetts-born player had his name called at the NBA Draft was five years ago and it was both in memoriam and as inspiration.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3229\">The World Cup group stage was supposed to be a feeding frenzy. So far, not so much.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>Terrence Clarke was projected to be a first-round pick in 2021 \u2014 the first Boston area first-rounder since Nerlens Noel in 2013 \u2014 before a fatal car crash in Los Angeles just weeks before the draft. The NBA posthumously honored him as a ceremonial pick.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Clarke became a symbol the heights the modern generation of the area\u2019s basketball players could reach. Five years later, Brockton\u2019s AJ Dybantsa is on the verge of completing the journey.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span>Dybantsa is at the top of most experts\u2019 lists entering Tuesday\u2019s NBA Draft, and if his name is called first, he\u2019ll join Patrick Ewing in 1985 and Jimmy Walker in 1967 as the only Massachusetts products to be selected No. 1 overall.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>What makes Dybantsa different from Ewing and Walker, though, is that he\u2019s the only one of the three who was actually born here. Ewing\u2019s mother moved their family to Cambridge from Jamaica when he was 12. Walker spent most of his childhood in Roxbury after his family moved there from Amherst, Va., when he was an infant.<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><span>Get Starting Point<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span>A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.<\/span><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><label>Enter Email<\/label><\/p>\n<div><button>Sign Up<\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><span>Related<span>: <\/span><\/span>Forty years later, a look back at how the death of Len Bias impacted the Celtics on and off the court<\/div>\n<p><span>Dybantsa seemed to understand his position in the time and lineage of Massachusetts basketball even as he navigated a unique path that took him from Massachusetts to California to Utah and now to the NBA.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThe last guy that we had besides Terrence was, like, Patrick Ewing \u2014 and that was 40 years ago,\u201d Dybantsa said when his Utah Prep team made a tour stop at Emmanuel College in 2024. \u201cI just want to be a guy that people know where Brockton is on the map. Everybody talks about the New Yorks of the world, the Cali\u2019s of the world. But Mass. got some hoopers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>If anything, Dybantsa\u2019s path to draft night shows how much the road has changed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>For more than half a century \u2014 from 1947, when Springfield native Bob Hubbard was drafted by the Providence Steamrollers to 1999 when Fall River\u2019s Chris Herren was drafted by the Denver Nuggets \u2014 the pipeline from Massachusetts to the NBA essentially went through high schools.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Ewing was the type of player that shifted the NBA once he arrived \u2014 the league\u2019s television deal with CBS nearly quadrupled in value in 1985 and NBC Sports \u2014 but he earned his reputation at Cambridge Rindge and Latin.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Walker was an anomaly in his era.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>He was discovered by Celtics legends Sam Jones and Satch Sanders, and Jones guided him to play high school ball at Laurinburg Institute in North Carolina. He thrived there, then returned to New England and became an All-American at Providence, then the Detroit Pistons took him with the No. 1 overall pick in 1967.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3227\">Vance meets Iranian negotiators in Switzerland to work on details of deal. Follow live updates.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>But in the 2000s, the landscape shifted.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Massachusetts became a pipeline for NBA talent \u2014 but it wasn\u2019t necessarily churning out players from the area.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Dan Gadzuric came from the Netherlands to Governor Dummer Academy in Byfield to a second-round pick in 2000. Jarrett Jack left his home in Maryland to play at Worcester Academy and became a first-round pick in 2005. Antoine Wright traveled from California to play at Lawrence Academy and became a first-round pick in 2005. Michael Beasley went from Maryland to Notre Dame Prep and was taken with the No. 2 overall pick in 2008.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The state became known more for developing NBA talent from around the country than producing homegrown players itself.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Since 2001, nearly 30 players were drafted with ties to Massachusetts, but only 11 \u2014 Bruce Brown, Jake Layman, Georges Niang, Pat Connaughton, Noah Vonleh, Shabazz Napier, Nerlens Noel, Michael Carter-Williams, Demetris Nichols, Will Blalock, Michael Bradley \u2014 were actually born or bred here.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Dybantsa\u2019s time at national prep schools has become par for the course for prominent prospects. But his roots in Brockton matter the same way that his predecessor\u2019s did.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI think it\u2019s, No. 1, a source of pride for Brockton and the greater Boston community to see one of their own gain stature like that,\u201d said Leo Papile, who\u2019s been tapped into the area\u2019s basketball talent for nearly a half-century as founder and director of the Boston Amateur Basketball Club. \u201cWhenever someone from your area distinguishes themselves nationally or internationally, I think everyone that saw him in the corner store or taught him or had him in youth sports, they all kind of share in that success. So it\u2019s a great thing. It\u2019s a day everybody raises the AJ flag and says hey, another one made it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>From Walker to Ewing to Clarke, that baton for Massachusetts basketball is now in Dybantsa\u2019s hands, and he\u2019ll hold it as high as it\u2019s been in more than four decades.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cIt\u2019s great for the region,\u201d Papile said. \u201cIt\u2019s inspirational to younger kids. It\u2019s great for the families. When you\u2019re a pro athlete now, you\u2019re a worldwide brand ambassador. And part of your brand is where you\u2019re from.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3225\">A South Shore AI-generated news site put up a paywall. Hundreds of readers, including a police chief, opened their wallets.<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dybantsa is at the top of most experts\u2019 lists entering Tuesday\u2019s NBA Draft, and if his name is called first, he\u2019ll join Patrick Ewing in 1985 and Jimmy Walker in 1967 as the only Massachusetts products to be selected No. 1 overall.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1558,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>AJ Dybantsa could be the first No. 1 pick in NBA Draft from Massachusetts in 41 years - Boston Relocation Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3230\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"AJ Dybantsa could be the first No. 1 pick in NBA Draft from Massachusetts in 41 years - Boston Relocation Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dybantsa is at the top of most experts\u2019 lists entering Tuesday\u2019s NBA Draft, and if his name is called first, he\u2019ll join Patrick Ewing in 1985 and Jimmy Walker in 1967 as the only Massachusetts products to be selected No. 1 overall.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3230\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Boston Relocation Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-21T10:03:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=3230#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=3230\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c08a982d5d5e7124cea9158df226037e\"},\"headline\":\"AJ Dybantsa could be the first No. 1 pick in NBA Draft from Massachusetts in 41 years\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-21T10:03:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=3230\"},\"wordCount\":942,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=3230#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/e6ef452d6d779754041d2f1bebc8a5f5.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=3230#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=3230\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=3230\",\"name\":\"AJ Dybantsa could be the first No. 1 pick in NBA Draft from Massachusetts in 41 years - Boston Relocation Insider\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=3230#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=3230#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/e6ef452d6d779754041d2f1bebc8a5f5.avif\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-21T10:03:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c08a982d5d5e7124cea9158df226037e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=3230#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=3230\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=3230#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/e6ef452d6d779754041d2f1bebc8a5f5.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/e6ef452d6d779754041d2f1bebc8a5f5.avif\",\"width\":1440,\"height\":1023},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=3230#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"AJ Dybantsa could be the first No. 1 pick in NBA Draft from Massachusetts in 41 years\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Boston Relocation Insider\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c08a982d5d5e7124cea9158df226037e\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"AJ Dybantsa could be the first No. 1 pick in NBA Draft from Massachusetts in 41 years - Boston Relocation Insider","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3230","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"AJ Dybantsa could be the first No. 1 pick in NBA Draft from Massachusetts in 41 years - Boston Relocation Insider","og_description":"Dybantsa is at the top of most experts\u2019 lists entering Tuesday\u2019s NBA Draft, and if his name is called first, he\u2019ll join Patrick Ewing in 1985 and Jimmy Walker in 1967 as the only Massachusetts products to be selected No. 1 overall.","og_url":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3230","og_site_name":"Boston Relocation Insider","article_published_time":"2026-06-21T10:03:09+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3230#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3230"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c08a982d5d5e7124cea9158df226037e"},"headline":"AJ Dybantsa could be the first No. 1 pick in NBA Draft from Massachusetts in 41 years","datePublished":"2026-06-21T10:03:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3230"},"wordCount":942,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3230#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/e6ef452d6d779754041d2f1bebc8a5f5.avif","articleSection":["Sport"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3230#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3230","url":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3230","name":"AJ Dybantsa could be the first No. 1 pick in NBA Draft from Massachusetts in 41 years - Boston Relocation Insider","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3230#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3230#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/e6ef452d6d779754041d2f1bebc8a5f5.avif","datePublished":"2026-06-21T10:03:09+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c08a982d5d5e7124cea9158df226037e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3230#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3230"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3230#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/e6ef452d6d779754041d2f1bebc8a5f5.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/e6ef452d6d779754041d2f1bebc8a5f5.avif","width":1440,"height":1023},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3230#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"AJ Dybantsa could be the first No. 1 pick in NBA Draft from Massachusetts in 41 years"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/","name":"Boston Relocation Insider","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c08a982d5d5e7124cea9158df226037e","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com"],"url":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3230"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3230\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}