{"id":580,"date":"2026-06-19T11:37:06","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T11:37:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=580"},"modified":"2026-06-19T11:37:06","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T11:37:06","slug":"aj-dybantsa-and-his-dad-have-been-everywhere-together-is-d-c-next","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=580","title":{"rendered":"AJ Dybantsa and His Dad Have Been Everywhere Together. Is D.C. Next?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

What you\u2019re about to read is not particularly normal. OK, it\u2019s actually not normal at all. You see, NBA players (almost always) have agents. Players about to enter the NBA (almost always) have agents, too. AJ Dybantsa, however, is not your typical NBA-bound player because, among other reasons, Ace Dybantsa is not your typical basketball dad.<\/p>\n

Read more Matt Dunlap Wins Maine\u2019s Democratic Primary in a Key Congressional District<\/a><\/p>\n

Ace runs the business of his son, full stop. And he does so with his chest out, his mouth grinning, his head often nodding as he talks \u2014 like, yes, world, if you want even the smallest piece of my superstar son, you\u2019ll have to go straight through me.<\/p>\n

The NBA draft is less than a week away, meaning AJ, a 6-foot-9 forward with tons of scoring ability, could be less than a week from going first off the board. He visited just two teams during the predraft process: the Wizards, who have the No. 1 pick, and the Jazz, who will choose second. His trip to Utah was shorter than his one to Washington, but only because he and his family are very familiar with Salt Lake City and the people running the Jazz, namely CEO Danny Ainge and owner Ryan Smith. They are both Brigham Young University grads and donors. AJ spent two years in their general airspace, including playing his lone college season at BYU.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

So when they met this month, Jazz officials didn\u2019t have to see if AJ planned to hire an agent. They already knew the deal. But according to Ace, the Wizards did ask if he would eventually bring on an agent to negotiate AJ\u2019s rookie contract. Ace, sticking with his long-running strategy of keeping as much money in the family as possible, told them no, that wasn\u2019t happening. (In his retelling, Ace makes sure to say the Wizards weren\u2019t skeptical about this, only checking in case there was a change of heart. If you can believe it, he says each team is in love with AJ, just like everyone else.)<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just doing what I believe is best for my son,\u201d Ace told me of his unorthodox involvement. \u201cYou know how much AJ is going to make. Everyone and their mother knows how much AJ is going to make. Whoever doesn\u2019t know, all they have to do is Google it. AJ is going to get a max rookie deal. You know that, I know that, so why should I hire an agent to tell me what I already know?\u201d<\/p>\n

Per Google, the max deal for the top pick in this year\u2019s draft is just over $69 million for four years. Then the prescribed figures are lower for the second selection, then the third and so on. AJ, Ace reasons, doesn\u2019t have to pay someone just to sign his paperwork.<\/p>\n

Agents, you may not be surprised, are not so fond of that take. And there are coaches and executives who wonder if the father-son partnership could get messy, especially as AJ gets older. But there are others who have commended Ace\u2019s efforts, saying it\u2019s about time someone bucked the idea that an agent should get a set percentage of every player\u2019s first contract.<\/p>\n

This is the whole Ace experience, complex and brash, hard-charging and completely unfiltered. And soon, once AJ is drafted, Ace will be a main character in an NBA city, the franchise player\u2019s hands-on dad. It\u2019s an archetype with a modern twist, enabled by the name, image and likeness (NIL) era in college sports, which allowed AJ to make millions before turning pro, including while in high school. That\u2019s why Ace has built tall walls around his son, wary of anyone who offers help while sticking their hand out for a cut.<\/p>\n

People have grabbed at AJ like that since he was a high school sophomore, when he emerged like a lab-created prodigy, weaving through ankle-biting guards with his magnetic handle, dunking whenever he pleased. So along the way, Ace developed a saying for almost every situation, Daddy knows best <\/i>being one of his favorites. If his speech patterns were broken into a pie chart, it would be about 30 percent sayings and jokes, like this sampling of his latest:<\/p>\n

When I asked why the family recently hired a marketing team based in Paris and not in the U.S., Ace said: \u201cBecause AJ is an IBM. An International Black Man.\u201d (Ace grew up in the Republic of Congo, moved to France in his teens, then immigrated to the Boston area in his early 20s, where he and his wife, Chelsea, raised AJ and their two daughters.) And after telling me AJ turned down an offer for his own podcast, I joked that maybe Ace should launch his<\/i> own show \u2014 the bombastic sports dad peeling back the curtain \u2014 he said: \u201cSure. On the 31st of June.\u201d (About two minutes later, he made sure I knew there are only 30 days in the month.)<\/p>\n

Read more D.C.\u2019s Democratic Socialists Have Become a Campaigning Powerhouse<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s an extremely modern basketball parent because he has a business brain that\u2019s always going, going, going,\u201d said one NBA executive for a Western conference team, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he\u2019s not permitted to talk publicly about draft-eligible players. \u201cAnd he also seems to really love being Ace Dybantsa \u2014 which, hey, I would too if I were managing a player as talented as his son.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for where AJ will land, just about every recent report says the Wizards are down to him and Darryn Peterson, the 6-foot-6 guard from Kansas. And as for how the NBA views his dad\u2019s role, a small anonymous survey of NBA execs revealed a consistent take on Ace: He\u2019s the most involved parent in this draft, by their estimation, especially without an agent in the mix. But that would be more concerning, at least to the four of them, if Ace were as involved in basketball as he is in business.Ace, according to many of AJ\u2019s past coaches, has never demanded his son change positions or be put in more pick-and-roll sets. Instead, he\u2019s more likely to track how often AJ\u2019s team or sponsors are sharing him on their social media accounts and ask for more exposure.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

AJ Dybantsa is already talking about going to DC \ud83d\ude33\ud83d\ude33<\/p>\n

“I knew I was going to DC, John Wall looked at me… You know how many people on Twitter were calling the Wizards” pic.twitter.com\/rb8FwQ3Kri<\/p>\n

\u2014 WizardsMuse (@WizardsMuse1) June 10, 2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

His general marketing approach with AJ is fairly simple. They have signed only a small handful of brand deals \u2014 Nike, Red Bull, Fanatics, all extremely lucrative \u2014 because they don\u2019t want to dilute his value. But when it comes to interviews and social media, AJ is everywhere, which Ace believes has been good practice for dealing with reporters in the NBA. Plus, in the NIL era, social impressions often directly correlate to dollars made. Everything with AJ is by design.<\/p>\n

And after hammering why AJ doesn\u2019t need an agent some more, Ace listed off the circle around his son, as if to prove it\u2019s not just him: an advisor in Leonard Armato, who was once Shaquille O\u2019Neal\u2019s agent; a financial advisor; a lawyer; the marketing team in Paris; a soon-to-be-hired public relations team; Ace\u2019s manager; and a soon-to-be-hired assistant for Ace.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then I\u2019m the CEO,\u201d Ace said. \u201cI can negotiate contracts. I\u2019ve done it. I did a great contract with Nike. I did great contracts with Red Bull and Fanatics. AJ is happy with them. I\u2019m happy with them. We like to keep everything in the family.\u201d<\/p>\n

You know when you\u2019re on a call and you get a text and it buzzes against your ear? And then, despite trying to focus, because our attention spans have been ground to whatever\u2019s after dust, you sneak a peek at the message \u2014 just in case, you know, it\u2019s urgent or something? Earlier this week, in the middle of a phone interview for this story, that happened and I caved. I peeked. The message was from Ace, it turned out, a photo of Wizards and Jazz shirts laid side-by-side on a hardwood floor. Then I snapped back to listening to \u2026 Ace, who had fired off the text in the middle of an answer, never missing a beat. So once he finished the thought, I asked why he sent that message, especially, um, right now.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause on Tuesday, I will finally put one of them on,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd then you can have the other!\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more The Trump Administration Is Holding Up Billions in HHS Funding<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The potential No. 1 draft pick is poised to become an NBA star. But his dad is still the boss.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":579,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nAJ Dybantsa and His Dad Have Been Everywhere Together. Is D.C. Next? - Modern Home Journals<\/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:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=580\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"AJ Dybantsa and His Dad Have Been Everywhere Together. Is D.C. Next? - Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The potential No. 1 draft pick is poised to become an NBA star. But his dad is still the boss.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=580\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-19T11:37:06+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=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=580#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=580\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"headline\":\"AJ Dybantsa and His Dad Have Been Everywhere Together. Is D.C. Next?\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-19T11:37:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=580\"},\"wordCount\":1489,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=580#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/ee5c8e37225658b96b874c5ced1648a1-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=580#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=580\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=580\",\"name\":\"AJ Dybantsa and His Dad Have Been Everywhere Together. Is D.C. Next? - Modern Home Journals\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=580#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=580#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/ee5c8e37225658b96b874c5ced1648a1-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-19T11:37:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=580#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=580\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=580#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/ee5c8e37225658b96b874c5ced1648a1-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/ee5c8e37225658b96b874c5ced1648a1-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1787,\"caption\":\"BYU forward AJ Dybantsa, dribbles the ball against Clemson during the first half of an NCAA basketball game, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo\\\/Noah K. Murray)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=580#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"AJ Dybantsa and His Dad Have Been Everywhere Together. Is D.C. Next?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Modern Home Journals\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\",\"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:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"AJ Dybantsa and His Dad Have Been Everywhere Together. Is D.C. Next? - Modern Home Journals","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:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=580","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"AJ Dybantsa and His Dad Have Been Everywhere Together. Is D.C. Next? - Modern Home Journals","og_description":"The potential No. 1 draft pick is poised to become an NBA star. But his dad is still the boss.","og_url":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=580","og_site_name":"Modern Home Journals","article_published_time":"2026-06-19T11:37:06+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=580#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=580"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/#\/schema\/person\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0"},"headline":"AJ Dybantsa and His Dad Have Been Everywhere Together. Is D.C. Next?","datePublished":"2026-06-19T11:37:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=580"},"wordCount":1489,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=580#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ee5c8e37225658b96b874c5ced1648a1-scaled.jpg","articleSection":["Sports"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=580#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=580","url":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=580","name":"AJ Dybantsa and His Dad Have Been Everywhere Together. Is D.C. Next? - Modern Home Journals","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=580#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=580#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ee5c8e37225658b96b874c5ced1648a1-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-19T11:37:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/#\/schema\/person\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=580#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=580"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=580#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ee5c8e37225658b96b874c5ced1648a1-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ee5c8e37225658b96b874c5ced1648a1-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1787,"caption":"BYU forward AJ Dybantsa, dribbles the ball against Clemson during the first half of an NCAA basketball game, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo\/Noah K. Murray)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=580#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"AJ Dybantsa and His Dad Have Been Everywhere Together. Is D.C. Next?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/","name":"Modern Home Journals","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/#\/schema\/person\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0","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:\/\/modernhomejournals.com"],"url":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}