WASHINGTON (AP) — Before basketball became such a big part of AJ Dybantsa's life, he was like any other kid — growing up as a fan of a fictional superhero.
When he was about five, his father bought him a Spider-Man basketball hoop that went on the back of his door.
“I loved Spider-Man growing up. So I just started shooting from my bed, started shooting from my bed with this miniature ball. Then I started playing in the YMCA leagues ... ended up falling in love with the game," Dybantsa said. "So Spider-Man is the reason why I love basketball.”
The Washington Wizards are certainly glad Dybantsa took up the sport and committed himself to it. Two days after taking the 6-foot-9 star out of BYU with the top pick in the NBA draft, the team introduced him Thursday at a hotel overlooking the Potomac River, about 1 1/2 miles south from where the Wizards play their home games.
“Nothing comes easy, but I want to be a piece of the puzzle that is part of the rebuild,” he said. “Obviously, Wizards fans have been waiting for a long time.”
This was the first time the Wizards have picked first in the draft since 2010 when they took John Wall. Dybantsa joins a team that hasn't won 50 games in a season since 1979 — and more recently managed only 50 victories over the past three seasons combined.
One issue of uncertainty was resolved at the news conference. Dybantsa wore No. 3 in college, but in Washington that belongs to Trae Young. Dybantsa will change to No. 4.
“Previously wore No. 3, but I was the No. 1 pick,” he said. “Wanted to add those up, and we got four.”
Dybantsa averaged 25.5 points per game in college, becoming the first freshman to lead the nation in scoring since his new teammate, Young, did it at Oklahoma in 2017-18.
Washington fans will have a chance soon enough to see what Dybantsa brings on the court, but Thursday's event was an opportunity to see the type of person they'll be investing so much hope in. Dybantsa was personable and confident, and he seemed eager to get down to business. That much was clear back at the combine before the draft.
“It was like a job. My dad was like, ‘This is your first job interview,’” he said. "So we decided to dress up. I went to a suit and tie in every single interview. Media availability, that was in a suit and tie. So I just wanted to treat it like a real job.”
That made quite an impression on Wizards general manager Will Dawkins.
“It was a pretty fun first introduction, just to learn the maturity that he brings," Dawkins said. "We allow opportunities to ask questions. Sometimes you get the standard questions from guys. We didn’t get that from AJ. He’s just curious and mature and asked some really deep questions.”
Dybantsa said he intends to graduate college, finishing his studies online, and he has big plans for how he can make a difference away from basketball. The 19-year-old has already started a foundation aimed at empowering young people.
“My mom’s from Jamaica, my dad’s from Congo. We’re going to start off just sending 20 kids from there to different universities," he said. "If that’s universities in the continent of Africa, if that’s different universities in Jamaica, if that’s universities in the States, we’re going to try that. But after those two, we’re just going to expand all around the world. We just want to help kids all around the world.”
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AJ Dybantsa, right, poses for a photo with NBA commissioner Adam Silver, left, after being selected by the Washington Wizards as the first pick in the first round of the NBA basketball draft, Tuesday, June 23, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Venezuelans in the U.S. are rushing to organize donation drives Thursday after devastating earthquakes that officials say killed at least 188 people and injured hundreds more in their home country.
Oscar Torres and thousands of others spent the last 24 hours keeping up with a flurry of messages posted to a WhatsApp group that connects people in Venezuela with their families. He lives in Doral, Florida, a city outside Miami that's home to the largest Venezuelan population in the U.S.
“Already this morning, I was looking at the group in Doral and everybody’s pitching in — money, medicine, water. First, necessity items,” said Torres, a sales manager who moved to the U.S. from Venezuela in 1995. “They’re talking about making the first shipment ASAP.”
The 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes Wednesday night caused severe damage to the country’s main airport in the capital of Caracas, which could hamper efforts to get aid into the country quickly. The quakes were among the strongest in Venezuela in more than a century.
In photos of the aftermath, injured children, animals and civilians covered in dust and blood were pulled out of concrete rubble.
In addition to those killed and injured, thousands more were missing — leaving many families members in the U.S. scrambling for updates. More than 770,000 Venezuelans live in the U.S., with large communities settling in Texas and Utah, in addition to Florida.
In the Houston area, home to a large Venezuelan community, residents used community Facebook groups and other social media to spread the word about local donation sites. First aid and medical supplies such as gauze, bandages, antiseptics, disposable gloves, face masks, syringes, thermometers and blood pressure monitors all were in demand.
Many of the sites are in Katy, a suburb about 30 miles (48 km) west of downtown Houston that’s earned the nickname “Katyzuela" because of the high concentration of Venezuelans. Local resident Daniel Arenas translated a Spanish-language post into English and shared it Thursday on his LinkedIn page hoping people across Houston would step up and donate.
“I came to this country ten years ago, built a life here, but my heart is still in Venezuela,” Arenas said. “It’s devastating what’s happening over there. They don’t have the resources to handle this.”
Arenas, a maritime industry consultant, said that his wife is concerned about her aunt, who lives in a high-rise apartment in Caracas and sent a distraught message on WhatApp after the quakes hit.
“She was crying and screaming and saying she was in pain but not sure from where,” Arenas said. “She said she lost everything. She was desperate.”
Arenas said his wife was later able to reach her aunt.
In Florida, local officials in Doral and advocacy groups spread the word online and during news conferences about the need for aid donations.
Torres planned to contribute money for those efforts. He still has uncles and cousins who live in Caracas and Valencia, another hard-hit Venezuelan city. He said some of them were injured as they fled buildings during the quakes.
“Their homes are destroyed and a few buildings have collapsed," Torres said. "Thankfully, I don’t know anyone who passed away.”
Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia. Marcelo reported from New York.
Residents help to remove rubble from a collapsed building in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, June 25, 2026, a day after successive powerful earthquakes struck the country. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
Patients lie outside a hospital evacuated after it was damaged in an earthquake in Catia La Mar, Venezuela, Thursday, June 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Pedro Mattey)
People sleep in the streets a day after an earthquake and several aftershocks struck Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, June 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
Residents walk among the rubble of building damaged in earthquakes the previous day in Catia La Mar, Venezuela, Thursday, June 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Pedro Mattey)
Volunteers are seen packaging supplies, Thursday, June 25, 2026, in Doral, Fla. (AP Photo/Cody Jackson)
