AJ Dybantsa’s first two games with the Wizards in Las Vegas have looked a lot like the stretch run he had at BYU: big numbers, a steady voice and a teenager carrying himself like the oldest guy in the room.
That part wasn’t accidental. BYU pushed him into that role after Richie Saunders went down with an ACL injury early in the Colorado game on Feb. 14, and Dybantsa says that moment changed more than the Cougars’ season.
“As a freshman I had to step up into circumstances that I’m not used to, but it made me better,” Dybantsa said following BYU’s 79-71 loss to Texas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on March 19. “I definitely developed (at BYU) in a lot of ways - as a leader, first.
After Richie went down, he was our vocal leader, so I had to step into that role. From a skill set standpoint, I think my reads got better, I started scoring the ball easier and started playing some defense.”
Now the setting is different, but the responsibility looks familiar. Washington’s top draft pick has been guiding the Wizards’ summer league group in Las Vegas, and the 6-foot-9 multiuse athlete has handled it much the same way he did in Provo.
After scoring 27 points in the Wizards’ debut win against the Jazz last Thursday, Dybantsa talked about the game the way a veteran would.
“It’s a team game. It’s five guys on the court,” Dybantsa told ESPN. “I think it’s fun to play when everybody’s hitting, not just when one guy is killing.”
He was still in that mode even when he wasn’t on the floor. With leg cramps hitting him in the final minute, Dybantsa stayed engaged from the bench and tried to steer things from there.
“I wasn’t on the floor, so I tried making some coaching adjustments from the sideline,” he said with a smile. “I was telling (my teammates) to play hard and hold the ball and they got it done.”
Three nights later, he backed it up again in Washington’s 104-85 win against the Kings. Dybantsa finished with 24 points, seven rebounds, three steals, two blocks and two assists, then spent his halftime and postgame TV interviews making sure the attention didn’t stay on him.
“We did a little bit of everything. We shared the ball better than we did our last game,” he said.
“Shout out to Will Riley. I think he had 32.
It’s just trusting your teammates and letting them go off.”
There’s still plenty for him to learn. Dybantsa is a rookie, and he said as much.
The Wizards are 2-0 in Las Vegas, but he’s also 1 for 11 from 3-point range, a reminder that the learning curve is still there even if the leadership comes naturally. The veterans around him in Washington have offered their own advice, too.
“Just try to slow the game down. I know it’s a little bit fast for me,” Dybantsa told the Prime broadcast. “Just try to slow it down in every way possible.”
How much of this traces back to Kevin Young’s program at BYU will play out over time, but the early signs are hard to miss. Dybantsa’s one year in Provo seems to have given him something that matters just as much as scoring touch: a comfort level with leadership, and with the nonstop interviews that came with it, thanks to BYUtv’s tutorial.
That growth was born out of an uncomfortable change. Saunders’ injury forced Dybantsa into a role BYU didn’t want him to have to take on, but one he eventually made his own.
Without Saunders, the last game Dybantsa played in that counted came last March in Portland. He put up 35 points and 10 rebounds, but Texas still got the win. Afterward, sitting in the locker room, the teenage leader was asked what was on his mind.
“I think it sucks. I wished I could play on Saturday,” he said. “That’s what I’m thinking about right now.”
That same edge is still there in Las Vegas, just paired with a much more polished command of the moment. Dybantsa’s drive to win, sharpened at BYU and now being tested in the NBA orbit, has him looking like more than a top pick. It has him looking like a player who can set the tone.
Next up is Tuesday against the Bulls (6 p.m. MDT, Prime).
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