Who Are AJ Dybantsa’s Parents: Meet Ace Dybantsa And Chelsea Dybantsa

Anicet Francois “AJ” Dybantsa Jr. is an American professional basketball small forward for the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association. He played one season of college basketball for Brigham Young University (BYU) before being selected by the Wizards with the first overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.

Known for his elite scoring instincts and size on the wing, Dybantsa led the nation in scoring during his lone collegiate season and was a consensus first-team All-American.

AJ Dybantsa was born on January 29, 2007, in Boston, Massachusetts, and was raised in Brockton, a city south of Boston. He is the middle child of Anicet “Ace” Dybantsa Sr. and Chelsea Hudson Dybantsa, growing up alongside his older sister Samarra and younger sister Jasmyn.

Of Congolese descent through his father and Jamaican descent through his mother, Dybantsa was raised in a household where discipline, education, and athletics were treated as equal pillars. He attended St. Sebastian’s School in Needham before transferring to Prolific Prep in California and finishing at Utah Prep Academy.

Ace Dybantsa

Anicet “Ace” Dybantsa Sr., AJ’s father, was born in the late 1960s in Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of the Congo. At age 13, his father sent him to France to pursue a better education, and he later arrived in Boston on January 18, 1989.

Ace played soccer as a goalkeeper at Massasoit Community College before building a career in law enforcement, serving as a campus police officer at Boston University for years.

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In 2024, Ace retired from law enforcement to become AJ’s full-time manager, handling schedules, business opportunities, and the demands of his son’s rising career. He is known for a strict, “tough love” parenting style that included daily push-up routines and chore charts for all three children.

AJ has described his father as “super strict and straightforward,” adding, “He just tells me the truth. Doesn’t sugarcoat anything”. Ace has been a constant presence at every stage of AJ’s development, from youth basketball to the NBA Draft green room.

Chelsea Dybantsa

Chelsea Hudson Dybantsa, AJ’s mother, was born in Hanover, Jamaica, and was raised by her grandmother. At 13, she moved to the Boston area to join her mother and other family members, a transition she has described as difficult due to homesickness and culture shock.

She eventually earned a bachelor’s degree in social work from Salem State University, driven by her grandmother’s belief that education is “the one thing no one can take away from you”.

Ace and Chelsea’s love story began with a chance encounter in a Boston-area parking lot. On a cold winter night, Chelsea was searching for a spot outside her gym when Ace approached her car and offered to help; the two hit it off and began dating shortly afterward.

They built their life together in Brockton, Massachusetts, raising their three children: Samarra, AJ, and Jasmyn.