After being selected by the Washington Wizards with the first overall pick in the 2026 NBA draft, AJ Dybantsa knows that he is performing under immense pressure. But his personal goals aren’t just ROTY and MVP. Thanks to Dwyane Wade, someone whose personal checklist includes every desirable NBA milestone, he’s reset his goals to meet those massive expectations.

Dybantsa is already setting the tone at the Summer League, including a 23-point outing that led the Wizards to a 104-85 win over the Sacramento Kings. After that stunner, he revealed that his latest inspiration comes directly from the Miami Heat icon, who completely altered the rookie’s career trajectory with a single pre-draft conversation.

“I spoke to Dwyane Wade right before the draft, and I told him I want to be a Hall of Famer, and he said that’s what he wanted to be too until he got selected for the Top 75, and that was like a bigger moment for him than the Hall of Fame,” Dybantsa said after his Summer League game. “He said 20 years from now will be the 100th anniversary, and I should be aiming for the Top 100 instead of just the Hall of Fame, so that’s my new goal.”

As shared by the X NBA Fan Page, ‘Oh No He Didn’t’.

It’s not clear when exactly they met, but it could be through a shared connection with the Utah Jazz. D-Wade is a minority owner of the team which has ties to BYU. Even the majority owner, Ryan Smith, who aided BYU in recruiting the teen in high school.

After a standout NCAA career, Dybantsa was favored to go to the Jazz because of his connection to Smith and, consequently, D-Wade. But the Wizards had the first draft pick which secured his NBA career. The expectation to win RoTY or All-NBA honors comes with the territory for top draft picks. But his benchmark is to mirror The Flash.

The 3x NBA Champion considers the anniversary list a higher honor than anything he’s accomplished, including having the most meme-able statue in Miami. Even on his podcast, he’s full of stories just from being in that room.

Perhaps because he was chosen to be in a room with his idols, Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson, along with teammates like Shaquille O’Neal and LeBron James, long before he was voted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

The NBA’s 75th anniversary ceremony was held during halftime of the 2022 NBA All-Star Game on February 20, 2022, in Cleveland. It honored the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team as part of the league’s 75th-season celebration.

Part of that celebration included voting on an exclusive 75-player list to determine the league’s very best players across its history. Wade, whose highly successful career spanned 16 years and included three NBA championships and a 2006 Finals MVP award, was proudly named to that elite 75th Anniversary Team.

D-Wade was later officially inducted into the Hall of Fame as part of the star-studded Class of 2023. While Springfield honors hundreds of basketball figures, the anniversary lists represent an ultra-exclusive club voted on by media, players, and executives.

With the NBA’s 100th anniversary looming roughly two decades from now, Dybantsa is setting his sights on making sure his name is undeniable when that historic next list is compiled.

He has already started showcasing that superstar potential during his Washington Wizards Summer League stint, dropping 27 points in an epic debut victory over the Utah Jazz. Wade should be worried because he’s created a monster against his team.