Dybantsa ups NIL deal to pro Nike partnership

LOS ANGELES — As AJ Dybantsa is transitioning from college basketball to prepare for the NBA draft, he is also taking the next step in his endorsement deal with Nike.

Dybantsa, who signed a NIL deal with Nike in January 2024, is extending that agreement as pro basketball contract, he told ESPN.

“It means everything,” Dybantsa said. “They’ve been with me since Day 1. It’s been a great partnership and we’re looking forward to keep building for the long term.”

The 6-9, 210-pound Dybantsa declared for the draft after a stellar freshman season at Brigham Young University, when he led the nation in scoring with 25.5 points per game on 51%, along with 6.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Dybantsa has big plans for his NBA career, starting with draft night in June.

“Ever since the rankings came out in 9th grade, I’ve been No. 1 [in my class],” Dybantsa told ESPN. “I haven’t been nothing lower. So, it’s definitely a goal of mine to go No. 1.”

He has been working out for the draft in Los Angeles, with the Boston native recently working out with former Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas and basketball trainer, Zack Gonzales, who counts Celtics guard Payton Pritchard among his clients. He said he’s carried his Boston background with him during his basketball journey.

“Passion, probably,” Dybantsa said when asked to identify what defines players from Boston. “After a big stop, a big bucket, I tend to scream a lot, flex a lot. I think that’s pretty Boston of me.”

He’s also done some scouting of his future competition by attending Game 2 of the Los Angeles Lakers‘ first-round series against the Houston Rockets in person.

“It’s definitely physical,” Dybantsa said. “Things get a little more crazy in the playoffs. It’s probably a tough environment to play in because it’s a very physical game.”

Dybantsa got a head start on having his body ready for the physicality at the next level while at BYU, working with the director of strength and conditioning and sports science, Michael Davie, who previously won a championship in a similar role with the Milwaukee Bucks.

“He would do a lot of strength testing with us and he would compare us to a lot of the guys in the NBA, because he would have that type of info on his iPad,” Dybantsa said. “So he would compare, for example, my lateral movement compared to Jrue Holiday or my vertical jump compared to Giannis [Antetokounmpo]. So I kind of got to see where I was ranked early on in my college career.”

And his head coach at BYU, Kevin Young, who was a longtime NBA assistant coach with the Philadelphia 76ers and Phoenix Suns, prepared him for the league’s style and schemes.

“KY just put us in positions to be a pro,” Dybantsa said. “You’ve seen me a lot of isolations, you’ve seen me a lot of pick-and-roll. You’ve seen all of us in a lot of early action. We scored pretty early in the shot clock. So, I feel like I got used to how the NBA plays in college.”

As the NBA draft combine in Chicago next month approaches, Dybantsa, who shot 33.1% on 3-pointers in college, is familiarizing himself with the extended NBA 3-point line.

“Just trying to be a knockdown shooter and use the NBA line,” he said. “I think I have pretty good mechanics. It’s just getting used to the line and just … I think my percentage was kind of falling because I was shooting dumb shots. So, I’m paying a lot of attention to just shooting smarter shots. And getting used to the range.”

Nike created a logo for Dybantsa, in conjunction with the new deal, a star made up of his first initials that alludes to his childhood nickname.

“It’s some abstract art,” Dybantsa said. “It’s like an A and a J. If you keep flipping it, you see it. … I got a nickname when I was younger … ‘Star Boy.’ So, I’ve always been a star. And the pressure doesn’t really phase me. It kind of refines me, like a diamond.”

He told ESPN he plans to establish roots with his charity in whatever city drafts him, inspired by his father, who was born in the Republic of the Congo and returned to Brazzaville years later to donate to his childhood elementary school.

And then he plans to get to work on the court and continue to establish himself as the best in his class.

“There’s so many greats that have won Rookie of the Year,” he said. “I don’t want to not win Rookie of the Year. I’m not going to sit here and be like, ‘Oh, I don’t really care about Rookie of the Year.’ Yeah, I definitely want to win it.”