AJ Dybantsa on his 4 steal game: “I always knew I had defensive potential. It was just me being lazy in college … I’m definitely capable of [defending] at the highest level.”
i was lazy too at the college level
(Puts down bong) same.
Only took me 6 years to drop out
You were even lazy about dropping out
Study high, take the test high. Get high scores? Riiiiight?
Most relatable thing I’ve heard an NBA player say
Idk, Al Jefferson saying he lost a ton of weight by not eating fried chicken really resonated with me.
I always related to zions addiction to southern food and porn
I’m still lazy now but I have potential
same bro. now i’m lazy at the retail level
But did you make millions afterwards tho?
If yall watched any BYU game after his other good teammate got hurt (blanking on the white dudes name), he was basically asked to do everything on offense. Silly to imagine him giving 110% effort both sides 40 minutes a game
he averaged 22 his first half of the season then 29 the second half, so no coincidence to me this happened
Correct.
After Saunders went down for the season, Dybantsa was their entire offense.
Maybe he could have worded it a bit better, but he was doing what I’m sure they all thought was best for BYU to do well.
People hear the word lazy and immediately go into a fit. It’s clear what he said, what he was trying to portray.
richie saunders got hurt, but rob wright was still a high level college player
Rob wright is garbage lol he’ll be lucky to be a starter overseas in a b league one day, he was not high level in college just the classic ball handler who could get hot once in a while
Rob Wright averaged 18 and 5 in arguably the best conference in college basketball last season, which helped place him on 3rd team all-conference. Unless he has a major injury, he’ll absolutely end up on some NBA roster.
I aint watch any college ball but I am hoping that that white dude can hoop even after his injury because the Grizzlies used a 2nd round pick on him! Felt crazy taking a 25 year old whose injured at all so he must be really good
Really quick pull up 3.
And This is what Harden got shit on for
Nobody reasonable is denying that. He’s the one who said the terrible quote.
(Though if I had camera’s in my face a lot, I know I would say some stupid stuff, too, so I’m not blaming him)
He is framing it in a way to show his focus on the game in front of him and a drive for growth.
The alternative would be him throwing shade on his college team, which would actually be a bad quote.
He’s 19 that shouldn’t be that hard at that age. Especially with all the physical gifts. Many players have done this. The best ones really, but still.
Many is holding so much water there. Like 70% of the NBA is terrible at defense, 20% is passable, 8% is above average and 2% is elite.
1% are elite, 98% are great, 1% are bad
On the other hand…he’s 19.
Could be that he wasn’t used to managing the workload, or that he’s just badly worded how he health with it.
I think it’s okay to show him a little grace til we see how he plays a bit.
Yeah that’s how it works lol. Always funny when players that carry their team’s entire offensive load get shit on for not trying that hard on defense. Like yeah, of course they aren’t, if they get gassed playing defense their team is just gonna lose most of their games lol. It’s better to have one player bumming around on D than to have 5 players floundering sucking balls cuz your offensive system can’t breathe. There are like, 3 true 2-way superstars in modern NBA, and none of them can go 100% on both sides of the ball on the same night.
Yea these are great points. Even the most competitive players like Ant take it easy on defense because it’s impossible to go 100% both ends all game smoothly.
Besides Wemby I genuinely can’t name three other guys like this currently. I don’t think any star player is also his teams best defender besides maybe Bam/Giannis lol. I just dk if bam counts as a superstar
Wemby was also load managed to 20 minutes during the regular season and defensive effort is ridiculously easier when you’re 7’6” and you barely have to move or jump to contest compared to your peers.
Yea and also I feel you can see that sometimes he kinda relaxes on offense. Relax is probably the wrong word but I don’t feel the consistency of offensive intensity matches his defensive intensity.
Apparently 29.2 minutes a game is 20 now, and we’re back on the “he’s only DPOY because he’s tall” bullshit lmao
I mean his name is Anthony Davis he had to carry a AR/Dlo rui LeBron(LeBron can defend at a high level for spurts) while also having to be the best or 2nd best scoring option. While never being consider dpoy.
AD got fried so many times by Jokic because he wouldn’t run back on defense fast enough
I just dk if bam counts as a superstar
Wilt, Bam, Kobe
!/s!<
No need for /s that’s how the order goes
And even Wemby is clearly worse at the end of games because it’s so exhausting
And not to be negative towards Wemby, it’s just a different style of defense. He does obviously cover on the perimeter, but so much of his value just comes from standing near the hoop being 7’5. It’s not purely on ball intensity or great help defensive hustle
Embiid has been the sixers most important offensive and defensive player for who knows how many years now.
Tatum is his team’s best defender
Nah Derrick white
D White is good for his position. But Tatum is more versatile, more switchable, more of an anchor just by nature of his size and strength
gianni’s but i heard his defensive prowess went down, havent seen him play much
It’s honestly hard to tell if his individual defense has gotten worse or if it just looks worse because the team defense sucked
Team defense hands down. He was on OLD teams where everyone was over the age of 33
Like the Dame team:
Dame 33+
Lopez 35
Middleton 32
Crowded Beverly Connaughton 31+
Only exception was Beasley and Portis
Like most things usually the truth is somewhere in the middle
i suspect the latter but dont get to actually watch his games but now that’s he’s competing again i def will
As an individual defender he’s still great overall, its not his 2019-2021 self but he’s still a spectacular on that end of the floor, the biggest issue with him though is that his motor has noticeably decreased from his peak years (its only natural as he ages more tbh)
It’s also easier to go full go on defense as a paint defender vs a perimeter defender. You can take a semi rest roaming the paint but you can’t do the same chasing cutters around the court.
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yeah he carried a heavy offensive burden at BYU after Sanders tore his ACL
Even the best I think are often overrated (usually in terms of defense).
Like you’ve got Wemby and Giannis. And even with them, Wemby is a whatever play initiator/offensive player. And Giannis would probably stay healthier if he didn’t have to play both sides of the ball.
Then pretty much everyone else is either just fine/serviceable on defense, or just kind of irrelevant since they’re a guard or wing.
Like Kawhi is not a DPOY defender anymore. He’s good, and can lock in for moments, but he’s not that 2014 spurs Kawhi anymore.
Shai and Tatum are both good defenders, but not good enough to really matter that much.
It’s just more valuable for almost all star players to focus on offense.
Literally no one is asking anyone to go 100% on both sides, just go hard enough where you’re not a liability on the other end, KD has been a doing this for years
That’s what made Jordan so great in my opinion. What you are saying is true, however Jordan heard “Literally no one is asking anyone to go 100% on both sides” and took it personal.
This might also be one of the reasons why a heliocentric offense is not the best strategy, or team building concept.
Not only are you extremely vulnerable to an injury with one player carrying so much weight on one side fo the floor, but your defensive upside is potentially limited due to a weak link in the chain.
Many coaches would also argue that having one weak link on D has a carryover effect to other players, so they don’t try as hard on D either.
It would seem to be true, most of the greatest “teams” all had stars that competed on D, and offensive systems that were not so dependent on one player creating most shots.
Old, old Celtics - Russell era
80’s Celtics - Bird era (Bird tried hard and was really smart), lot’s of screening and sharing of the ball
Showtime Lakers - Magic was not the greatest defender but he played hard, was extremely smart and was a league leader in steals every year, and was a good rebounder or his position, shared the ball
Jordan Bulls - Jordan obviously an all time great defender, triangle offense helped with ball and player movement
Spurs - TD one of the GOAT defensive players, he was the hub on post ups early in career and then they transitioned to more ball and player movement.
Warriors - a possible exception - but Curry increased his strength and always competed, insane conditioning level, and others helped with playmaking responsibilities, team had a more connected sharing sysytem, lots of ball and player movement.
Lebron teams - Lebron had success sharing with Kyrie, Wade, and AD, and was a good defender when playoffs rolled around.
that’s why i love guys like Cade, plays with negative spacing around him but still locks up and gets his points
They said that about Lebron in high school.
Okay now tell this to the Media who is constantly trying to give defensive player of the year awards and All-Team Defenders to offensive superstars
Like when Jokic is doing everything on the best offensive team in the league, and the only defender on the team gets sidelined, and we rail on Jokic for looking lazy on defense.
who do you have as the top 3 2-way guys in the league? just curious
I don’t even really know, I was just saying a number. Obviously Wemby is one of them, and I would argue Giannis is when he’s healthy and playing well. I mean you got crazy people out there saying he’s a bum that relies on help defense but when he’s on he’s pretty demonic. Also his team has sucked ass the last few years and it’s hard to really look as good defensively and make that same effort when you have to carry so much of the offensive load in the games you play.
For third probably Tatum. Again you got weirdo Celtics haters denying how good he is and calling him a defensive superstar is probably extremely hyperbolic but he’s at least pretty good defensively and has very good defensive stats, both basic and advanced. His defense is actually very underrated, except by Celtics fans who probably overrate it.
Kawhi when he’s healthy is also obviously still a demon. Just hard to assess him with the injuries.
But regardless, even Wemby who is the clear #1 here can’t play both sides every night. When he’s gets attacked defensively his offensive game suffers massively. Which, like, of course it does lol. No one has infinite stamina.
Wemby, Giannis, and… Kawhi, I’m guessing? Maybe Ant?
Ant is not a elite defender lol
he’s barbecue chicken for the top offensive players
Kawhi over Tatum?
Plus Tatum, even LeBron still in spurts
Don’t think Tatum is gonna be near his former level after the injury
Lebron????? Lebron is nowhere close to being a 2-way guy in this league.
That’s laughable.
top 3 2-way guys in the league?
Giannis, Wemby, Kawhi in some order.
I hope the Jokic haters can read this many words, but i’m not betting on it
Same reason why Giannis went from a top 5 defender to above average when he had to average 30 Ppg to win
which is still insane, considering unlike wemby he’s elite and used POA and interior at his best
the kid talks and chirps so much on defense, I love that about him
Not having to do EVERYTHING on offense in the NBA versus back at BYU certainly helps. Tough ask to have him play all 40 minutes, be your entire offense, and have enough in the tank to play defense.
Doesnt have to be that anymore. He has other scorers and a PG that can get him the ball. His defense can come out now.
“it was just me being lazy in college” is very relatable though
Based on reddits reaction to him, I know he’s gonna be a star
He’s 19. Chastising a teenager for things that all humans are susceptible of doing is weird af. You’re a consensus 1 or 2 pick, you’re your team’s sole offensive engine and your team isn’t good enough to compete for anything. You get lazy. It’s normal lol.
I’m excited.
Flash forward to him being lazy 67 games into the regular season on a back to back.
Lmao what a terrible quote. Surely this won’t resurface in a couple years
Idk it’s decently self aware
It’s just one of those quotes that are risky because if his defense isn’t good then it’ll be used against him.
That is if you care about what the peanut gallery says on social media.
I don’t think it is tbh. I think it’s unaware to think “eh I was just being lazy last year I can be elite at the highest level whenever I want.”
Eh he doesn’t say he is or will be, saying he’s capable of it is probably true. It’s whether he’s gonna put in the work or effort or not
I think we both understood it different and idk which is right.
I heard “I wanted to bring defensive impact. I knew I had defensive potential. I’m at the highest level now (as in playing in the nba), so I need to try hard and have a high defensive motor.”
I don’t think he’s saying he’s the highest level defender
Nah I agree with that, I think he’s also saying highest level as in the NBA level. I still think that’s pretty silly to think laziness is the difference between NBA level defenders and non NBA level defenders.
He literally doesn’t say that the full quote is:
“I kind of always knew I had the defensive potential. It was kind of me just being lazy in college. I can bring the defensive impact to this team. I’m definitely capable of doing it. I’m at the highest level now so why not play you know with the most hardness(?) on the defense end.”
I’m at the highest level now is not him saying he’s the DPOY it’s him saying he’s playing in the NBA, the highest level of play.
Yes I know he means highest level as in the NBA, not as in DPOY. That’s still a ignorant and silly thing to say coming from a bad defender, seemingly he thinks he can just not be lazy and now he’ll be able to compete with the 400 best players in the world.
He specifically said that he was asked to do so much offensively at BYU that it was difficult for him to put in the same effort defensively, but that’s not the case in the NBA
I mean he specifically said “I always knew I had defensive potential, it was just me being lazy in college.”
What’s wrong with believing in yourself, being confident, and having a personality? No reason to hate or clown on literal teenagers and young adults.
No reason to hate or clown on literal teenagers and young adults.
There’s at least a couple reasons.
You think this was about anything other than him saying he was lazy with his play until now?
Boy I sure love tearing down 19 year old pro athletes for the crime of being too confident and outspoken. When I was 19, every single thing I said would have unanimous approval if broadcast to millions of people. How dare this teenager make a mildly amusing self deprecating joke? Like seriously
Everyone better watch their mouths when they’re around me! Personally I don’t want them to speak at all. Just zip your lid, play basketball for me, and if you got something to say, have your PR guy draft a statement for shams to tweet. That’s gotta be the most entertaining way to watch this sport. As we all know, nobody on nba social media cares AT ALL about personality…we only care about on court production!! That’s why Nikola jokic is the #1 best selling jersey right now.
damn gonna steal this 😂
Pack it up white knight shit wasn’t funny
I’m agreeing with you king. We’re gonna make AJ dybantsa pay for this. Reddit on!
Nah it was funny af 😂. Reddit on !
get this kid some PR training good lord. he’s not charismatic enough to get away with it
I get what he’s trying to say but as soon as he starts playing poorly he’s gonna get hounded by people who don’t give him the benefit of the doubt
I know what you mean lol but I also hate America’s cultural insistence on charisma taking precedent over being a good at your craft, good hearted and honest. Someone like Ant shouldn’t have more social leeway and thrust into the limelight more than Jaylen Brown or Donovan Mitchell.
if anything I think american culture values performance above all else. You can get away with talking a lot of nonsense if you’re good at what you do. but you best believe the second you fall off that tightrope you’re gonna get smacked for what you said. Ant has not fallen off that tightrope often… performance wise
This is at least the 2nd crazy quote from a rookie this pre-season. There are some things better left unsaid, even if true.
There are some things better left unsaid, even if true.
I’m going to completely disagree. Both AJ and Yaxel Lendeborg, who you are referring to, are good for the league and media in terms of their quotes.
They are two of the most unique in from the camera rookies in recent memory because they are 1) super honest, 2) super arrogant but confident, and 3) as of now, have produced when needed. There’s going to be a lot of AJ Dybantsa and Yaxel Lendeborg quotes and it’s not a bad thing for here on this sub and for fans.
They don’t need to change a thing. You know why fans love hearing Charles Barkley the analyst (who was like that as a player too, even as a rookie)? It’s because he is all 3. It’s a good thing they are saying these things.
As a rookie, the Sixers were going through a slump and the coach went around asking each player what can the team do differently. No one said a thing until it got to Charles Barkley, who came off the bench at the time and was a rookie. He said, and I’ll paraphrase the exact quote, to everyone in the locker room, which was known to the public later (search Leon Wood Charles Barkley rookie quote on Julius Erving for the source)
Doc (and probably Moses too although he only said Doc) is getting old and getting over the hill. He needs to give me the ball more.
That was a at that time no-name Barkley as a rookie in a room with multiple HOFer. Never change. Be confident and honest no matter who it is. It’s refreshing to see these quotes and Anthony Edward’s too.
Lol, leave Yaxel out of this! haha
I’m sure the boosters who paid him millions to play at BYU love hearing that.
They got a historical freshman scoring season out of him so I’m sure they’re ok.
Yeah great ROI
He was playing 40 mins per game down the stretch, averaged 31 in the big 12 tournament, and scored 35 of the teams 71 points in their first round NCAA tournament loss
Congrats. What does that have to do with being lazy?
Y’all seriously sound goofy.
I would just be mad if I paid someone to do a job and then after they said they were being lazy.
You sound like someone who has never played organized basketball before.
It is impossible for somebody to give 100% on both ends of the court. After Richie Saunders got hurt, AJ’s “job” was to do everything on offense for them. In big games, he played all 40 minutes, brought the ball up the court, and literally everything ran through him.
What AJ is saying here is that his offensive burden was so high that he was being “lazy on defense”, and now that he has guys like Trae young and AD to ease his offensive burden, he can put more effort in in defense.
You sound like a Wizards fan.
Uhm. Because he’s using his energy on offense? That’s a pretty well known fact that offensive engines usually don’t provide the most effort on defense due to them needing that same energy for offense?
That’s not what he said. He said he was being lazy. Implying he could have tried harder on defense.
I’d rather he say this than, “I was trying my absolute hardest and still sucked”
He couldn’t do everything. Gotta conserve energy when you can
Yeah love a #1 pick that had to conserve energy to play defense in the Big 12. He also literally said he was being lazy. So how is that conserving energy?
Because he scored 25.5 ppg and had to do everything on offense. Did you not watch his final game when he scored 36 and no one else on his team could do anything?
But you’re right. He should have shouldered all of the offense and initiated everything, and then also been the hardest worker and best defensive player on a bad defensive team. It’s totally his fault. He should have risked injury too for a team missing its second best player! Sounds great.
I can’t wait for the Wizards to suck as always 😂
Didn’t he lead college in scoring as a true freshman?
Didn’t he just say he was being lazy?
BYU and Utah loves this man so..
Technically just BYU. Utah, aka the University of Utah aren’t BYU fans
You can indeed change your opinion about someone after they say something
He brought them more basketball relevance than they’ve had the rest of this millennium. They’re fine
maybe if you define basketball relevance by social media interest, they lost in the first round of the tournament the year right after making the sweet 16
It doesn’t change anything. Having the top recruit alone paid itself back. He was also a monster on offense. They were never a threat to actually do anything. Get real.
Sorry I don’t want my franchise player admitting to being lazy.
Fuck them boosters.
this dude
If anyone expects him to give 110 percent on defense after carrying all load he carried on offense then I really don’t know what to tell you.
Boosters are a bunch of losers anyway so fuck em
This comment section just created the #1 Dybantsa hater lmao. Every time AJ has a bad game, this guy will be the first to jump on it 🤣
I like AJ. It was just a sarcastic joke but was funny how mad people got so I ran with it.
I think this is going to be one of the best draft classes of all time.
Someone’s gotta give AJ the memo. NBA players are more lazy than college players. None of them play defense.
I mean steals are not necessarily correlated to good defense. It sometimes means you’re reaching and can put yourself out of position. You know, lazy defense.
Your statement is fine in abstract but regarding this game, he was not at all lazy
But your take is considering you clearly didn’t watch any of the footage
Steals are good defense
It is not.
Steals can be the outcome of good defense.
Gambling for steals though can really ruin defensice possessions.
James harden is notorious for having high steal numbers while playing very poor defensively. There are plenty of cases of this being true.
Luka as well
Top 1% commenter like a badge of honor
I’m just that good
Agree, I think blocks is the more important defensive atat
Whiteside’s burner?
Part laziness and part just not knowing what exactly to do, defense isn’t just effort. Sometimes he just made the wrong decisions
As a BYU fan, it was always clear his defensive effort wasn’t there. Hard to say how much of that was “lazy” vs he had to carry so much of the offensive load when a few other starters got injured.
Hmmm
Buck up young Buck.
dudes a clown
I really don’t like this guy he seems so full of himself. just something off about him. i do value humbleness a lot in a player not gonna lie. Might be hating but i’m fully looking forward to his welcome-to-the-NBA moment
Hes a teenager. Teenagers are not humble by nature.
Nah that’s purely American, no teenagers in Asia would act like that for example. It’s not an age thing, it’s cultural.
Ahhh here we go. America bad Every where else good, nothing wrong with other country. Redditors man yall sick
That’s not what he said weirdo. It’s true that Asian culture raises their youth to be a lot more respectful and humble. There are pros and cons to how they do things there vs how they do things here.
It’s not one bad one good. You are the sicko
Did you just try to tell me that Asians aren’t cocky? You just switched from a nationality to an entire race…
FUCK Asia
And the dumbest comment of the day award goes to you! Congrats!
Listening to the video, it sounds better than it reads. He’s being self-aware.
I’m sorry but to be a #1 pick and a guy that’s going to be the face of your franchise eventually don’t they need that confidence
you understand these people are young af right?
Yeah he sucks, and his family sucks. His whol high school was a giant scam.
this motherfucker saw shaq for the first time and the first words he said to shaq were i can dunk on you
Say hello and shake his hand first. I dont like this dude at all
I’m with you… he’s gonna fit in nice with Trae and Sarr lol
The East is so RIP they do NOT see the Wiz coming.
I’m sure he’ll be a great player but I really wish he’d play in a game that counts before patting himself on the back.
So many red flags with this guy
This dood has no filter. He better back up all his shit talking, or else he’s going to look like a complete idiot.
A lot of red flags on this dude
This dude is painting a target on his back…feel like he can step up tho
“Too lazy” uh oh
Personally he’s being too honest here lol the media training hasn’t kicked in yet
I hope it never does.
Oh no..
Andrew Wiggins 2.0?
Edit: Since I’m being downvoted I feel the need to clarify. No, I’m not literally comparing him to Wiggs as a player. Wiggins started rebounding more when he went to the Warriors and he said that it was easier than he thought, only because he had never really tried to get rebounds before..
If you ain’t playing D in college against worse players, you’re not going to play D against the elite players
Yikes, that was a quick way to let everyone know you neither played nor watched him
He may need some more media training
It’s been a rough week for our young players in front of microphones…
I mean if anyone watched BYU it was obvs he didnt give much effort on defense because he was given the entire load on offense
No one watched BYU tho
They do when the number 1 draft prospect is playing
I know I’m just being annoying
If you think steals means you play good defense, then you don’t know ball
Imagine admitting you’re just lazy
Absolutely bizarre. “I’m at the highest level so why not do it now?” That mentality doesn’t indicate long term success.
Can’t quite put my finger on it, but I already hate this dude.
cool
Every time I read something he said it feels like he’s saying while he thought he was the best he just realized he ’s even better than he thought…
Big ego from a rookie. He should probably tone it down a little
But now that I’m in a historically storied franchise like the Wizards, I’m definitely pushed to put more effort on defense now.
I know a Kings fan ain’t fucking talking right now
bro needs the right team and he can be all time, cmon wizards dont f this up
Every bad defender has this quote. It is a not a bad thing to be able to “turn it on,” but these players are often ignorant of how much they are bleeding with a lack of effort over the course of the year.
Lazy players & the wizards are a match made in heaven
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