“This is my last year being a Celtics fan”
– AJ Dybantsa
Getty
PORTLAND, OREGON - APRIL 12: AJ Dybantsa #7 of Team USA looks on during the 2025 Nike Hoop Summit at Moda Center on April 12, 2025 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Soobum Im/Getty Images)
The Boston Celtics are working through an offseason that arrived earlier than expected. Boston won 56 games in the regular season, got Jayson Tatum back from a ruptured Achilles, and put themselves in position to reach the second round. Then a 3-1 series lead against the Philadelphia 76ers disappeared. Game 7 ended at TD Garden, and so did a season that had carried more belief than most people expected.
Now the Celtics are facing the summer with roster questions, draft questions, and one reminder that Boston’s reach still stretches beyond the players already in the building.
A 19-year-old from Brockton made that clear this week.
AJ Dybantsa is widely expected to hear his name near the top of the draft. The Washington Wizards hold the No. 1 pick, the Utah Jazz have been linked to him, and the next phase of his basketball life is almost here.
That means one part of his old life is changing.
“I was a Celtics fan growing up, so this is my last year being a Celtics fan…I’m getting drafted this year so, it might still be in me but I don’t think I can be a fan as much,” Dybantsa said.
That is the kind of answer Boston fans will notice.
Dybantsa grew up in Brockton, Massachusetts. He watched the Celtics as a local kid before becoming one of the best young players in the country. He saw the climb, the Finals loss, Banner 18, and now the difficult ending to a season that looked like it still had another round in it.
AJ is not the first Massachusetts kid to go through this. Cooper Flagg grew up in Maine as a Celtics fan before the Dallas Mavericks drafted him No. 1 overall last year. Two consecutive drafts. Two New England kids. The same transition.
“This is my last year being a Celtics fan”
– AJ Dybantsa
Dybantsa spent one season at BYU and backed up all the hype.
He averaged 25.5 points and 6.8 rebounds across 35 games, giving them a lead option with the scoring profile and physical tools that NBA teams chase at the top of the draft.
The production was consistent from start to finish. He did not just enter the season as a name to watch. He played like someone capable of becoming the first player taken.
At 19 years old, Dybantsa already has the kind of shot creation and size that can reshape a rebuilding team’s timeline. Brockton will be watching. So will Celtics fans.
GettyBYU forward AJ Dybantsa is the heavy favorite to be selected as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
The Washington Wizards hold the No. 1 overall pick after winning the draft lottery, but the picture is not fully settled yet.
The Utah Jazz have made their interest clear, with reports indicating they reached out to Washington about trading up to select Dybantsa first overall. The feeling appears mutual. Dybantsa has spent the past two years in Utah, and there is an obvious connection there.
For Celtics fans hoping to eventually see him in green, the math is complicated. Boston would need to move significant pieces, including names at the very top of the roster, to get anywhere near that conversation. Brad Stevens has roster decisions to make this offseason, but a run at the No. 1 pick would be a different level of reconstruction entirely.
For now, the most likely outcome puts Dybantsa in Washington or Utah.
Either way, he will be back at TD Garden soon enough as a visitor.
GettyNEW YORK, NEW YORK – JUNE 25: An overall view of the draft board following the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft at Barclays Center on June 25, 2025 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
Dybantsa’s comment was simple, but it carried weight because of where he comes from.
Childhood teams become opponents. Favorite players become matchups. The fan in you does not disappear completely, but the competitor has to take over.
He said it might still be in him. Boston fans will remember that, and may hope to see Dybantsa in green one day.
Keith Watkins Keith Watkins is a sports journalist covering the NBA for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Golden State Warriors, Boston Celtics, and Los Angeles Lakers. He previously wrote for FanSided, NBA Analysis Network, and Last Word On Sports. Keith is based in Bangkok, Thailand. More about Keith Watkins
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