In the NBA, and in any sports in general, family support plays a huge part in getting a player to the top. Players say it all the time after big wins and big nights that behind every rising star, a family is pushing from the background.
On Father’s Day, projected No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, AJ Dybantsa, had a few words of his own for the man who has been by his side through all of it.
AJ Dybantsa’s Emotional Social Media Post for His Father
Dybantsa took to X over the weekend and shared a post for his father, Anicet “Ace” Dybantsa. The post included two pictures and an emotional caption.
“My dad got ts out the mud. Congo, to France, to Brockton, to where we are right now. He built that so I wouldn’t have to start from scratch… That’s all I ever needed… Happy Father’s Day, pops,” Dybantsa wrote on X.
My dad got ts out the mud. Congo, to France, to Brockton, to where we are right now. He built that so I wouldn’t have to start from scratch.
That’s all I ever needed.
Happy Father’s Day, pops. pic.twitter.com/BeA2dKRpH3
— AJ Dybantsa (@AJ_Dybantsa) June 21, 2026
One of the pictures he posted was taken in Washington, D.C., which feels fitting, given that AJ is widely expected to be selected first overall by the Wizards when the draft takes place this week.
Dybantsa’s father was born in the Republic of Congo, and when Dybantsa was a young teenager, his father, Joachim, sent him off to France to live with his brother so he could get a better education. Ace eventually moved to the Boston area in 1989, where he played soccer at Massasoit College.
It was there that he crossed paths with Chelsea Hudson, AJ’s mother, who had also left home at a young age.
This isn’t the first time Dybantsa has shown this side of himself online. Back in May, he posted a similarly warm tribute to his mother on Instagram for Mother’s Day, where he posted a mirror selfie with his mother as an Instagram Story.
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“Happy glo mommaa, words can’t rlly describe,” Dybantsa wrote as the caption.
Honestly, it’s fair to say that family is the foundation of everything Dybantsa has built. During his lone season at BYU, he averaged 25.5 points a game and finished as the nation’s leading scorer.
The signature moment came against rival Utah, when he dropped 43 points, breaking BYU’s freshman single-game scoring record that had stood since Danny Ainge set it decades earlier.
He kept turning heads in the postseason, too, as he piled up 93 points across the Big 12 Tournament to set a new tournament scoring record. He edged past the mark Kevin Durant had held since 2007.
Now, with the 2026 NBA Draft scheduled for June 23, all eyes are on where Dybantsa will begin his professional career.
While his NBA future remains uncertain for now, one thing appears clear. It is that Dybantsa knows that the journey would not have been possible without the support of his family, especially his father, Ace.
