NEW YORK (AP) — For anyone seeking clues in the final hours before the NBA draft, AJ Dybantsa's Father's Day message to his dad apparently wasn't one.
In the first of two pictures that went along with the posting on X, Anicet Dybantsa Sr. (“Ace”) is holding young AJ in front of the White House. The White House, of course, is in Washington, the home of the team that has the No. 1 pick on Tuesday night.
But Dybantsa wasn't revealing anything about the Wizards' intentions. He was just trying to avoid revealing too much of himself.
“Actually, it was just a random photo that I found,” Dybantsa said Monday. “I was going to do one and I was a baby, but I was naked, so I didn’t want to do that one. So the next one to the right just happened to be in front of the White House.”
There's a strong possibility Dybantsa is indeed headed back to Washington. The 6-foot-9 forward from Boston led the nation with 25.5 points per game in his lone season at BYU and has drawn comparisons with his size and skills to Kevin Durant, who is Dybantsa's favorite player.
The Wizards also could consider other players from a strong group of one-and-done stars, including Darryn Peterson of Kansas, college player of the year Cameron Boozer of Duke or forward Caleb Wilson from North Carolina. Behind them are a number of talented scoring guards.
“I think this draft top to bottom is elite. I think you look at guys even outside of the top group, guys in the 16-to-20 range, those are all great players,” Boozer said. “I think our draft is really strong, stronger than a lot of classes that came before us. I guess we’ll see how strong we really are in a couple of years from now, but I am super excited for sure.”
The Utah Jazz have the No. 2 pick, followed by the Memphis Grizzlies and Chicago Bulls. Assuming the four forwards are all gone by then, the Los Angeles Clippers at No. 5 would have the first choice among the likes of Keaton Wagler of Illinois, Darius Acuff Jr. of Arkansas, Kingston Flemings of Houston or Mikel Brown Jr. of Louisville.
Dybantsa, with his strong resume against top competition, is obviously hard to pass up. But the Wizards also have to weigh Peterson's potential against what he was able to deliver at Kansas.
A McDonald's All-American in high school, he averaged 20.2 points last season as one of the top recruits ever landed by the Jayhawks. But there are plenty of questions when it comes to his availability. Peterson dealt with full-body cramping issues before the season that led to a brief hospitalization, and other injuries and illnesses kept him from playing in 11 games while limiting him in several others.
The 6-5 guard said teams haven't shown any concerns about his health.
“Not at all," he said. "Every team's got my medicals and I’m cleared, so there’s no issues.”
He doesn't seem stressed about not knowing where he's headed after draft night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
“Oh, it’s been my life for a while now,” Peterson said. “I went to three different high schools. I’ve been on the move my entire life, so no problem at all. That's part of the process and I’m embracing it.”
The host Nets have the No. 6 pick, hoping to generate some buzz in a city where they've never felt less significant after the Knicks won their first NBA championship since 1973.
Dybantsa was at Game 4 at Madison Square Garden — the other photo with his father was taken at the NBA Finals — when the Knicks made the biggest finals comeback on record by erasing a 29-point deficit.
“Craziest game I've ever watched in real life," he said. "Like, it was so loud in there.”
Now Dybantsa is looking forward to being the player creating the cheers. The Wizards' title drought is almost as long as the Knicks' was, having last won in 1978 when they were still known as the Bullets.
If they tab Dybantsa as the player who can turn them around, he's ready for the expectations.
“Obviously, it’s going to be a little bit more pressure probably, target on my back,” Dybantsa said. “I mean, I’ve been No. 1 my whole life and people gunning after me, so it’d be a bigger motivation for me going into the league.”
AP Basketball Writer Dave Skretta in Lawrence, Kansas, contributed to this report.
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FILE - Kansas guard Darryn Peterson (22) works against Arizona guard Jaden Bradley (0) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Arizona, Feb. 28, 2026, in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri, File)
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Eccentric, ostentatious and artistic, Abelardo de la Espriella is also a political neophyte who is poised to become Colombia’s next president after leaning into everything that makes him different from the conventional politician to win people’s support.
The businessman and lawyer, whose ventures include a clothing line, wine and rum brands, and a restaurant, earned U.S. President Donald Trump’s endorsement despite never having run for office and on Monday led the presidential runoff race by 1 percentage point, or nearly 251,000 votes, with all but a fraction of the votes counted.
De la Espriella’s victory, which electoral authorities are expected to declare this week, will add Colombia to a growing list of countries that have turned to political outsiders in search for solutions to complex social, security and economic challenges.
The self-proclaimed representative of “the never-before-seen” promised voters fearful of renewed internal conflict to combat violent crime with an iron fist, pledging a strategy that includes ending outgoing President Gustavo Petro’s attempts to establish dialogue with multiple armed groups — an effort that has largely failed — and building mega-prisons, emulating those of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele.
Progressive candidate Iván Cepeda, Petro’s protégé, is challenging the results.
“I don’t like either of them, but I’m terrified of continuity,” retiree María del Rosario Villaveces, 66, said after voting Sunday in the capital, Bogota.
Villaveces, 66, added she is concerned that de la Espriella “has no idea about politics,” but she said that his running mate, former finance minister José Manuel Restrepo, gives her “a little peace of mind” because “he does know (politics) and is well organized.”
More than 26 million people voted in the runoff. Of those, over 426,000 people chose a third, no-name option on the ballot that allows voters to express dislike of both candidates. About 29,000 people cast blank ballots.
Will Freeman, a fellow for Latin American Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said most voters do not perceive lack of political experience as a risk even though plenty of outsiders have failed to get much done.
“They wanted a candidate who would decisively break with Petro and the left,” he said. “Part of the country was voting as much against Petro and the left as for de la Espriella, associating the left with erosion of security, economic stagnation, etc., whether or not that’s fair.”
De la Espriella, nicknamed “The Tiger,” told thousands of supporters that he will “govern for all Colombians.” But as he spoke behind a bulletproof glass Sunday night, he also echoed the frustration of many eager to see the end of Petro's presidency.
“Pack your bags and prepare to become the opposition,” he told Petro's camp. “Make no mistake, Mr. Cepeda. You already know how fiercely the tiger roars.”
Cepeda on Monday responded to the remarks, warning de la Espriella against threats, veiled or otherwise.
“Don’t come threatening us," Cepeda said in the capital, Bogota. "Neither your roars nor your screams frighten us.”
He also asked supporters to remain calm and maintain “exemplary behavior.” Hours earlier, people in the western city of Cali took to the streets, damaging a public bus, several surveillance cameras and an ATM.
Sunday’s winner will begin a four-year term Aug. 7.
The candidates pitched voters widely different strategies to prevent the South American country from the nonstop violence, such as car bombs, kidnappings, disappearances and forced displacements, that Colombians lived with in previous decades.
Yolanda Hernández, who recycles trash for a living, voted for Petro in 2022 but cast her ballot for de la Espriella this time. While she acknowledged that Petro was unable to deliver on promises meant to help the poor because of congressional gridlock, she said Colombia cannot afford another four years under his vision for the country.
“We want change in Colombia because it’s always the same violence, always the same thing,” Hernández, 49, said. “(Petro) said he was going to lower the cost of services, that he was going to lower the price of food, and everything is more expensive.”
Last year, authorities recorded 14,780 homicides, the most since at least 2015, driven by clashes among illegal armed groups. Among those killed was conservative presidential hopeful Miguel Uribe. Colombia’s illegal groups have more than 27,000 members.
De la Espriella, 47, pitched a heavy-handed approach to crime-fighting, including drug trafficking, with tactics that draw from Bukele's playbook. Those tactics have lowered homicide rates in the Central American country but have fueled accusations of human rights abuses.
De la Espriella managed to defeat more experienced conservative politicians in May's first-round vote, including Sen. Paloma Valencia, who represented the party of the influential former President Álvaro Uribe. For Yann Basset, a professor of Political Science at the University of Rosario, De la Espriella's feat marks a “ new stage for the Colombian right. ”
“There is perhaps a weariness among political figures that contributes to the success of this outsider populism against the political class,” Basset said.
In Latin America, several presidents have achieved electoral victories with little political experience.
In Argentina, Javier Milei, a television commentator, formed a party, rose to fame and served as a congressman shortly before becoming president. In Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, an heir to a fortune built on the banana trade, entered a snap election with only months of experience as a National Assembly member and won.
De la Espriella holds dual Colombian and U.S. citizenship. He’s a Trump supporter and a member of the Republican Party.
“Congratulations to “El Tigre” (THE TIGER!) Abelardo de la Espriella, the new President of Colombia!" Trump said Monday on Truth Social. “It was my Great Honor to endorse him, and I look forward to working together to build a powerful relationship between Colombia and the United States of America, which will bring new levels of Greatness for both of our Countries!”
Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
Sen. Ivan Cepeda, presidential candidate with the ruling Historic Pact Coalition, gives a press conference the day after the presidential election runoff in Bogota, Colombia, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Sen. Ivan Cepeda, presidential candidate with the ruling Historic Pact Coalition, gives a press conference the day after the presidential election runoff in Bogota, Colombia, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Sen. Ivan Cepeda, presidential candidate with the ruling Historic Pact Coalition, arrives to give a press conference the day after the presidential election runoff in Bogota, Colombia, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Presidential candidate Abelardo de la Espriella of the opposition Defenders of the Motherland movement addresses supporters at a rally after runoff election results showed him leading in Barranquilla, Colombia, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Presidential candidate Ivan Cepeda of the ruling Historic Pact coalition embraces his vice-presidential running mate, Aida Quilcue, during an election night appearance after election results showed him trailing in Bogota, Colombia, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
A voter marks his ballot in a classroom decorated with flags of countries participating in the World Cup serving as a polling station during the presidential runoff election in Santander de Quilichao, Colombia, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Santiago Saldarriaga)
A supporter of presidential candidate Abelardo de la Espriella of the opposition Defenders of the Motherland movement light a flare at a celebration rally after polls closed in the runoff election in Barranquilla, Colombia, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Presidential candidate Abelardo de la Espriella of the opposition Defenders of the Motherland movement and his vice-presidential running mate, Jose Manuel Restrepo, ride in a bulletproof booth toward a celebration rally after election results showed him leading in Barranquilla, Colombia, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Presidential candidate Abelardo de la Espriella of the opposition Defenders of the Motherland movement arrives to vote with his family during the runoff election in Barranquilla, Colombia, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia)
