AJ Dybantsa a beacon of light for Wizards fans, next up in rich D.C. basketball tradition

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Quiet as it’s kept, there are not many American cities that love the game of basketball and have a rich hoop history like Washington, D.C.

Naismith Basketball Hall of Famers Edwin Bancroft Henderson, Earl Lloyd, Elgin Baylor, Morgan Wootten, Adrian Dantley, Dave Bing and John Thompson II made their names in Washington.

From the Goodwin Pro-Am league to perhaps the nation’s best high school basketball to its recent AAU dominance, the DMV (D.C. and the surrounding communities in Maryland and Virginia) has had a reputation for greatness in youth basketball for more than 100 years.

And who could forget the dominance and impact of Thompson and Georgetown University basketball?

However, in the weeds of D.C.’s basketball presence are the Washington Wizards. Formerly the Washington Bullets, the franchise hasn’t been to the NBA Finals since 1979 and have owned the league’s worst winning percentage since 1980, according to StatMuse. Through all the lean years — which even included two seasons with NBA legend Michael Jordan — long-suffering Wizards fans such as rapper Wale have remained loyal.

“Basketball and D.C. go hand-in-hand,” Wale, who was born in D.C. and raised in Maryland, told Andscape. “It’s not just a sport here. It makes up the culture, community and identity. Some of the greatest hoopers in the world come from the DMV. You can go to a random park in the DMV and see NBA-level talent playing pickup.

“Being a Wizards fan isn’t always the easiest thing, but I’ve been a fan since I was a kid. We’ve had moments where it felt like we’re almost starting over again, and others where we were almost there. When D.C. hosted the NBA All-Star Game in 2001, the city was on fire. There was so much energy. And Jordan making his final comeback with the Wizards in the early 2000s was electric. But I’ll always ride for the Wizards through every era. D.C. is loyal, so we don’t switch up like that.”

---

There is, however, a new beacon of light for the Wizards after decades of either mediocrity or losing seasons: former BYU forward AJ Dybantsa, who was selected with the first pick in the 2026 NBA draft Tuesday night at Barclays Center.

The 2026 first-team All-American is projected to be a franchise-altering star. As a freshman for the Cougars last season, Dybantsa averaged 25.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.1 steals per game.

“I’m just blessed, and I just give all the praise to the Lord, and my parents, and everybody that played with me,” Dybantsa said Tuesday to Andscape. “I’m just super blessed and honored that they recognize my talents, and they see me as something that they can use to keep building.”

The Wizards are also breaking in four-time All-Star Trae Young (acquired from the Atlanta Hawks last season) and 10-time All-Star Anthony Davis (acquired from the Dallas Mavericks). Returning is forward Alexandre Sarr, the No. 2 pick in the 2024 draft, and several other talented young players.

Now with Dybantsa, the hope is the Wizards can finally become a playoff team that can bring NBA relevance back to Washington.

“I’ve visited the city plenty of times. I know the culture behind it, but I know that they are a young team that’s just ready to go do big things in Eastern Conference,” Dybansta said. “I definitely like the roster, seeing Trae an All-Star point guard, having a vet [like] Anthony Davis, and having a young core that you know is just building.

“I’m definitely excited to play with [Young], like I said, All-Star point guard, just a guy that you watched growing up in the league, just him paving the way. Obviously with him being in the Big 12, and me being in the Big 12, I was trying to break some of his records. But for him to be a teammate, it’s going to be better.”

The last time the Wizards had the No. 1 pick, they selected Kentucky guard John Wall in 2010. Wall is arguably the most-popular living Wizards player because of his All-Star play during his 10 seasons, philanthropic work and endearing community appearances such as playing in the Goodman League Pro-Am during the summers.

Wizards fans also loved his personality, as he danced “The Dougie” when called during pregame introductions. Wall was a good luck charm this year, as he was on the NBA draft lottery stage representing the Wizards when they landed the No. 1 pick in this week’s draft.

The Wizards’ all-time leader in steals and assists offered words for wisdom for Dybantsa on and off the court in D.C.

“You’d better know about Go-go [music], first of all, music-wise,” Wall told Andscape. “But they love their sports in D.C. They want to get behind it. They need some excitement. They need the next Wizards’ franchise guy they’ve been looking for to embrace the city. The city is going to embrace you back, for sure.

“Most importantly, not just own the court, give back to the community. You have to go touch the community. You got to go down to Barry Farms, go see [Goodman League commissioner] Miles’ [Rawls] crazy self. You have to do things that they don’t feel are forced. Just be true to yourself, authentic, show love to the fans and they will show love back to you.”

Dybantsa has been on several trips to D.C. and was excited that Wale wanted him in the city, but said he wasn’t familiar with Go-go music. He’s expected to be introduced Thursday in D.C.

For Wale, Wall, Dantley and long-suffering Washington fans such as Wizards senior vice president and former Georgetown men’s basketball coach John Thompson III, NBC Sports NBA sideline reporter Zora Stephenson, Howard University men’s basketball coach Kenneth Blakeney, and former NBA guards Victor Oladipo and Omar Cook, there is now an overwhelming feeling of hope after decades of despair, frustration and disappointment.

They are also very proud of the D.C. basketball history that comes back to life with the No. 1 pick and possible Wizards rejuvenation.

For example, Washington native Edwin Bancroft Henderson is credited with introducing basketball to the nation’s capital in 1907, according to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Henderson organized games for Black youth throughout metropolitan D.C., establishing the Interscholastic Athletic Association to build high school and college athletics in Washington’s Black community in 1904.

Before the NBA was integrated in 1950, Henderson sparked the birth of the “Black Fives,” which were all-Black, segregated professional basketball teams that played between 1904 and 1950. Nicknamed the “Father of Black Basketball,” Henderson was Howard University’s first men’s basketball coach and was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor.

“Our basketball history in D.C. goes back to coach Henderson and the Black Fives,” Blakeney, who starred at DeMatha Catholic High School, told Andscape. “His contributions to basketball on this city and the relationship he had with Howard should always be remembered.”

High school basketball in Washington has remained a power since the days of Henderson. Baylor dominated high school basketball at a segregated time in D.C. at Spingarn High School. Hall of Fame boys’ basketball coach Morgan Wootten coached DeMatha just outside of D.C. for 46 seasons.

Wootten won five national championships, coached 13 NBA players, including Dantley, and coached DeMatha to an upset of New York’s Power Memorial High, led by future Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

“Every basketball player growing up wanted to go to DeMatha because Wooten was a great coach and great person who taught great fundamentals,” Dantley, a former DeMatha star, said. “Every year we had teams in our league ranked one, two, four, five in the area. DeMatha was cream of the crop. Everyone wanted to go to DeMatha because of Morgan’s reputation…

“As far as the game itself and the area, D.C., basketball is what we are known for. We have some of the greatest players that have ever come out from this area.”

Today, the DMV is often considered the best high school basketball area in the country. The Washington Catholic Athletic Conference features several of the nation’s top high school basketball programs, such as Gonzaga College High School and Sidwell Friends, and is one of the toughest leagues nationally. Team Takeover, based in D.C. and Baltimore, is also considered one of the country’s top AAU basketball programs.

Oladipo, a former DeMatha star, said the basketball talent in the DMV area is “in the soil.”

“What makes D.C. basketball is that there is so much talent from one area,” Oladipo, a two-time NBA All-Star, told Andscape. “It’s very different from an L.A. or Texas as far as size. It makes sense why so many people come from those areas because of size. We’re not as big, but we have just as much talent, if not more.”

Said Thompson III: “The good athletes here [in DMV] play basketball. I also think from the grassroots level, pee-wee level through high school, the level of coaching here is outstanding. The WCAC is the best [high school] conference in the country. It’s just elite. It goes back to Elgin Baylor. But basketball is king here in D.C.”

The Capital Classic in D.C. is the nation’s longest-running high school basketball All-Star games, as it pits the top DMV players against the nation’s best talent.

Since 1975, the Goodman League has been one of the nation’s premier Pro-Am summer leagues hosted at the Barry Farm Recreation Center.

Joe “Doc” Carr also used to host closed-door pickup games in D.C. with the top college basketball players in the area that included the likes of future Hall of Famers Grant Hill, Alonzo Mourning and Dikembe Mutombo, with college coaches such as Thompson II and Mike Krzyzewski getting sneak peeks at recruits.

Arguably the biggest basketball presence ever in Washington came from Georgetown University under Thompson II in the 1980s. He led the Hoyas to a Division I national championship in 1984, became the first African American head coach to win a Division I title, reached three Finals Fours, won seven Big East Conference titles and compiled a 596-239 overall record.

The University of District of Columbia, an historically Black college, also won a Division II national championship in 1984.

Many African Americans fans of Georgetown living outside of the DMV thought the school was an HBCU because of its legendary Black coach and predominately Black team. The Hoyas produced legends who had Hall of Fame careers in Mourning, Mutombo, Patrick Ewing and Allen Iverson.

“There is not a two-week period that ever goes by in some city, not just D.C., where someone will come up to me and comment on how my father influenced them,” said Thompson III, who coached at Georgetown from 2004-2017. “And 99 percent of those people never met him, never spent time with him.

“But they watched from afar what he did, how he empowered himself, his athletes and the damn city, to be honest. That is something that still happens to this day, where people will come up to me and comment on how he inspired and influenced decisions they made in their lives.”

The first notable pro basketball team in Washington, D.C., was the Washington Capitols from 1946-1951.

Their first head coach was Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Red Auerbach, who coached from 1946-49 before departing to join the Boston Celtics. He led the NBA franchise to nine titles as a coach and seven as an executive.

Capitols forward Earl Lloyd became the first African American to play in an NBA game during his debut against Rochester Royals in Rochester, New York, on Oct. 31, 1950.

“The first time I met Earl Lloyd was at the Hall of Fame,” Dantley said. “He would talk more about what he went through with racism being in the NBA at that time.”

The Capitols played in the roughly 8,000-seat Uline Arena, which also hosted one of President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s inaugural balls in 1953, a Malcolm X speech in 1961, the first Beatles concert in America in 1964, and is now an REI store.

Before relocating to Virginia, the Washington Caps also played their lone American Basketball Association season in 1969-70. That team featured future Hall of Famer Rick Barry.

The NBA’s Baltimore Bullets relocated to the D.C. suburb of Landover, Maryland, in 1973, mostly because then-owner Abe Pollin wanted to move into the larger, more profitable and privately funded arena called the Capital Center.

The franchise was temporarily called the Capital Bullets before being named the Washington Bullets. The Bullets initially received their nickname to honor Baltimore’s history of ammunition manufacturing.

The red, white and blue Bullets were one of the NBA’s most dominant franchise in the 1970s. They played in the NBA Finals in 1971, 1975, 1978 and 1979.

Led by Hall of Famers Wes Unseld, Elvin Hayes and Bobby Dandridge, Washington won its lone NBA championship in 1978, defeating the Seattle SuperSonics. Unseld is widely considered the greatest player in franchise history as a 1978 Finals MVP, 1969 NBA MVP and five-time All-Star. Washington has not been back to the Finals since 1979.

Dantley said that the 1970s era of Bullets basketball was the best pro basketball ever seen in the area.

“That was when they loved basketball here, when they had Big E (Haynes), Bobby Dandridge, Phil Chenier, Unseld and all of them,” said Dantley, who played against that Washington team. “Basketball was rocking then. That is what everybody wanted to see. That is when basketball was at its best here.”

Said Thompson III: “I remember them mainly because in the offseason they would come to Georgetown to play. I went to Gonzaga High School and the colors were purple and white. [Former Bullets forward] Mitch Kupchak brought me some purple Nikes. You couldn’t tell me anything. …

“Without a doubt it’s been forgotten. But there is a good reason it’s been forgotten. It’s been how many years? We haven’t had that kind of success or success period between now and then.”

The 1980s was the beginning of a downturn for the Bullets. NBA notables such as Moses Malone, Jeff Malone, Muggsy Bogues, Jeff Ruland, Manute Bol and Bernard King starred for the Bullets, but none of them could get the franchise into championship contention.

Perhaps the biggest news of the 1990s for the franchise was the rebrand of the Bullets to the Wizards in 1997 because of the former being connected to gun violence in the nation’s capital.

The Wizards also moved to downtown D.C. to the MCI Center (now Capital One Center), where they still play today. NBA stars Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Rod Strickland and Rasheed Wallace donned the uniform but notable success didn’t follow.

“We’ve been following them before they were even the Wizards,” Wale said. “Growing up in the DMV, the Bullets were part of the fabric of the city. I remember watching guys like Chris Webber and Juwan Howard during that era.”

The biggest Wizards franchise news since their distant title was Jordan coming out of retirement in his late 30s to play for the franchise for two seasons, including his final NBA season in 2002-03. Jordan’s presence skyrocketed ticket sales home and away, sold jerseys, attracted global media attention and boosted a financially stricken franchise.

Jordan’s time with the Wizards came to a surprisingly bitter end on May 7, 2003, when he was fired from his post-retirement position as president of basketball operations by owner Abe Pollin, citing front-office struggles and organizational friction.

“I remember Jordan being 40 still averaging 20,” Oladipo said. “It seemed like the game came easy to him, even though he was beyond in terms of age during his time there. But he still had the same aura, same respect with the Wizards.”

Stephenson, 32, scored more than 1,400 points at Oakton High School in Vienna, Virginia, and her father had a mini-Wizards season-ticket package during her youth. During the Jordan years in Washington, she attended about 10 games a year but was too young to understand the significance.

“When you’re a kid you don’t realize what you’re watching in person,” Stephenson said. “I’m reflecting on it now and I was able to see his last chapter. I didn’t fathom that as a kid. How awesome was that? I had a [Antawn] Jamison jersey, not a Jordan jersey. Jamison was my favorite player.”

Cook said Wizards fans were “super hyped for the greatness” of Jordan but also loved watching the brightest NBA stars from other teams show greatness as well.

“When Michael Jordan came back, my dad would take me and a friend to as many games as possible during those two years,” Cook told Andscape. “I went to LeBron [James’] first game at MCI Center with my whole AAU team. Any time the [Los Angeles] Lakers or Allen Iverson came to town, my dad would try to get me in the building. I grew up going to many Wizards games, for sure. …

“But one thing about D.C. is we appreciate hoop. If a guy [from another team] has it going on and they got 30 going into the fourth quarter, we want to see greatness. We want to see you get 40 or 50. Wizards fans want to see the Wizards win, but we respect real hoop and greatness being played. If you’re killing, there are going to be some oohs and aahs. They might start cheering for you at the end of the day.”

Hot-scoring guard Gilbert Arenas, known as “Agent Zero” and “Hibachi,” defined the post-Jordan era of Wizards basketball from 2003 to 2010 with his big scoring games, buzzer-beater shots and relentless offensive play. The three-time NBA All-Star transformed the Wizards into a playoff contender and averaged 29.3 points per game during the 2005-06 season. Led by Arenas, Jamison, Larry Hughes and Caron Butler, the Wizards went to the playoffs from 2005-08.

But in December 2009, Arenas and Wizards teammate Javaris Crittenton brought unloaded guns into their locker room following a heated argument over a gambling debt. Both were suspended and pleaded guilty to gun charges. Arenas was traded to the Orlando Magic in December 2010.

“I know more about it now than I did back then,” Stephenson said. “All I knew was that there was a gun in the locker room. I didn’t look into details of it. I don’t think my parents wanted to give me all the full details. As a Wizards fan, the first or second round of the playoffs mean something to us. You felt like we were trying to get over the hump. We could just never get there.”

Said Wale: “Gilbert, Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler were the GOATs. Gilbert especially; he made basketball in D.C. feel cool in a way that resonated with the whole city.”

Luckily for the Wizards, they had their successor to Arenas in Wall.

Wall was selected with the first overall pick in the 2010 NBA draft. The five-time NBA All-Star was a godsend for Washington as he earned career averages of 19 points, 9.2 assists and 1.7 steals from 2010-2020 but also made an impact locally with his community work. Alongside sharpshooter Bradley Beal, the Wizards made the Eastern Conference semifinals three times.

“When John Wall and Bradley Beal had their run, Wizards games were packed,” Cook said.

The Wizards had another frustrating campaign with a 17-65 record last season. Washington, however, acquired Young and Davis, who played sparingly because of injuries but added hope. The Wizards entered the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery on May 10 with a 14% chance of landing the top pick in what is projected to be one of the best drafts in league history.

With Wall representing the Wizards, the franchise landed the No. 1 pick and their loyal and patient fans rejoiced on social media as if they won a title. Wall said he was shocked.

“I’ve been waiting a long time for a moment like this,” Wale said. “Nothing is guaranteed, but getting the No. 1 pick gives the city something to rally around. It’s exciting.”

The excitement for the Wizards’ No. 1 pick is so big in Washington that there are two major draft parties tonight.

Wall, Wizards radio broadcasters Dave Johnson and Glenn Consor and current and former Wizards players were at a draft party at The Anthem in D.C. Howard University men’s basketball program also hosted a watch party at Morton’s Steakhouse, with Blakeney, Cook and Howard GM Daniel Marks among the dignitaries there.

Howard has multiple NBA ties. Wall was named Howard’s president of basketball operations in April. Howard guard Bryce Harris also has worked out for the Oklahoma City Thunder and the New Orleans Pelicans, and he has the potential to sign a two-way NBA contract.

“It’s a great way to not only connect basketball and bring people together, but we’re also exposing more people to Howard who may not be as familiar to our program,” Blakeney said of Howard’s NBA connections. “It’s a home run. …

“We’ve gotten more interested in the NBA game. We thought it would be great to share that with our fans and with the DMV community.”

Today’s Wizards have not played in the postseason or had an All-Star since 2021. Washington has the worst record in the NBA since 2000 with a .399 winning percentage (869-309) over the past 26 years.

Washington’s last NBA Finals and Eastern Conference finals appearance was in 1979, but with the No. 1 pick in the draft, Young and Davis, Sarr and several talented young players on roster, the Wizards and their fans believe they have playoff potential.

Wall has high expectations for the new-look Wizards.

“They can be a top-five team in the East, top-four team because they feel like the conference is open,” Wall said.

Said Dantley: “I don’t go to games on a regular basis. I only go when friends are in town. But next season I will just see what they do. There is no doubt that with the team that they have that they should make the playoffs.”

The New York Knicks winning an NBA championship for the first time in 53 years this season has allowed less-fortunate franchises like the Wizards to dream again. Washington has realistic hopes of making the playoffs next season.

While winning a title seems farfetched at the moment, the most ardent of Wizards fans can envision a championship parade in the nation’s capital.

“You stay with your team and your community and know that one day you’re going to get to celebrate the payoff,” Wale said. “Look at what just happened for the Knicks’ fans.”