Less than a month after the Washington Wizards used the No. 1 overall pick on him, AJ Dybantsa was already on the floor in Las Vegas for his NBA Summer League debut against the Utah Jazz. It doubled as the first head-to-head meeting between the top two picks of the 2026 draft, with Jazz guard Darryn Peterson lining up on the other side. For a Wizards fanbase that's been rebuilding for years, this was the first real look at the guy they're building around.
Dybantsas first NBA bucket #NobodyBeatsTheWiz https://t.co/lMJ4qTSlQs
That clip caught the Wizards down 2-0 in the opening minutes, which is about as small-sample as it gets, but Barstool wasn't waiting around to react. By the time the dust settled on the actual game, Dybantsa had put up a game-high 27 points to go with 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and a block, and Washington held on for a 92-88 win. Peterson matched him shot for shot with 24 points for Utah, but it was Dybantsa's night.
Naturally, the internet did what the internet does with a heavily hyped rookie's first make: it lost its mind a little.
HE’S THE GREATEST PLAYER IN NBA HISTORY‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️ https://t.co/BBUS9kozay
Calling anyone the greatest player in NBA history off a Summer League possession is obviously a bit, not a scouting report — Dybantsa was BYU's leading scorer at 25.5 points per game as a freshman and a Naismith finalist, but he's played all of one professional game. The joke is the point. Still, it's the kind of overreaction that only happens when a prospect this hyped actually shows up and looks the part on the first try.
The best part of the night, though, had nothing to do with box scores. It came from a young Wizards fan who apparently couldn't wait for tip-off.
AJ asked if he could watch some Summer League as he went to sleep. I knew I was raising a sports fan but didn’t realize I was raising a sports sicko
Turns out the fandom runs deeper than just wanting to watch basketball in general.
@TheClemReport AJ wanted to watch AJ. Raising a Wizards fan, couldn’t be happier for the Clem family
A kid named AJ staying up late to watch a rookie named AJ debut for his favorite team is the kind of small, human detail that cuts through all the draft-lottery hype and Vegas box scores. Dybantsa's first Summer League game is one data point in what's supposed to be a long rebuild for Washington, but nights like this — a statement debut plus a new generation of fans locking in — are exactly what a franchise hopes for when it bets everything on the No. 1 pick. Summer League rolls on in Vegas, and expect every bucket from here to get the same treatment.