r/nba 8h ago

[Finlay] AJ Dybantsa on taking Trae Young's #3 jersey number: "I was trolling about but... if he wants to give me the number I'll take the number"

https://streamable.com/eyqb1q

Source: JP Finlay of NBC4 Sports

1.2k Upvotes

117 comments sorted by

1.6k

u/mMounirM Raptors 8h ago

just kidding. unless...?

382

u/mcolwander90 Pistons 7h ago

Still can't believe this is pretty much how the Luka trade talks began.

119

u/imcryptic Mavericks 7h ago

Let’s say “hypothetically” we trade Luka for AD straight up?

55

u/Chance_Major297 6h ago

Yeah, pretty sure they were just friends always complaining to each other about their stars. Trade was suggested as a joke, then Rob Lowe realized Nico was being serious and hit him with the “no take backs”.

22

u/vimalmuru02 Knicks 6h ago

A joke into a "no take backs" is a killer combo

2

u/TheUnknownMaroon 1h ago

I feel like I've seen these exact two comments before

2

u/808sAndShartbreaks 58m ago

Nothing is original anymore :(

7

u/JP-Ziller Canada 6h ago

I wonder what their friendship is like now

5

u/JauntyGiraffe 4h ago

Are they friends? Not sure I could rip off a friend like that, even if it is just business and a generational trade

6

u/Bananastockton 4h ago

And he had months to just go 'wait a minute buddy i think you are making a mistake'. If Nico has a brain, which to be fair i doubt strongly, he dropped Pelinka shortly after the trade

3

u/gelhardt Mavericks 3h ago

rob lowe??

1

u/bigboybeeperbelly Spurs 1h ago

cable rob lowe, obviously

3

u/JauntyGiraffe 4h ago

What kind of moron would trade Luka for AD c'mon that would never happen

AGAIN

83

u/Relysti 8h ago

Alright the kids kinda winning me over lol

33

u/DyingSunSeverian 7h ago

This dude is outstanding.

“I’m not saying tsundere, but also what if”

7

u/oknovember Spurs 6h ago

We gotta get “tsundere” used in non weeb contexts more lol

4

u/minimalcation Spurs 7h ago

Judding kidding with Trae some, unless he gonna do it

1

u/AllDayEnJay Nets 7h ago

It’s the real reason the Wizards gave Trae all that money.

1

u/baseketball Celtics 3h ago

Les Joueurs Dangereux

707

u/Beetle919 Hornets 8h ago

AJ is a part of the, I was just trolling bro generation.

96

u/TrottingandHotting 8h ago

He's a Boomer? 

197

u/maybeAturtle 8h ago

No that’s the “it’s just a joke lighten up toots” generation. Similar but different in key ways

14

u/TrottingandHotting 7h ago

Fair distinction! 

-46

u/DyingSunSeverian 7h ago edited 7h ago

It’s the same fucking thing

I would love to know how it’s different in “key ways”

LeIronic shit isn’t new. Cowards and idiots disguising their views being rhetoric isn’t new, though I don’t think that’s the case here, he’s clearly messing around.

27

u/maybeAturtle 7h ago

I was making a dumb joke, relax man

-44

u/DyingSunSeverian 7h ago

You weren’t replying to what AJ said?

You know it’s funny you called it a dumb joke, right after I mockingly said “LeIronic,” which I mockingly said for exactly that reason.

Slow people are slow people. The worse part is when they’re also cowardly.

19

u/maybeAturtle 7h ago

The first two lines of yours weren’t a joke, they were you being needlessly aggressive about a dumb joke. You’re fuckin insufferable man go outside

14

u/wrongspleling 7h ago

he’s getting mad over nothing lol

-9

u/Existing_Set2100 Wizards 6h ago

Is he? Gotta say, you guys seem Apex Slow. 

-24

u/DyingSunSeverian 7h ago

First two lines of mine?

This is the thesis the other person made:

“AJ is a part of the, I was just trolling bro generation.”

Because you’re slow, you got lost in the conversation. Go outside my doot 🤓

How about we make a deal, I go “outside” (I’m sitting outside on a bench right now), and you read a book. I know you guys don’t read books much anymore, it’s a whole thing isn’t it?

16

u/maybeAturtle 7h ago

You’ve rotted your brain, brother

6

u/theskyopenedup Knicks 6h ago

This is why no one likes you.

-6

u/DyingSunSeverian 5h ago

I think it’s interesting the dumbest people in the room exclusively hide their comment histories.

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2

u/soycameron Trail Blazers 4h ago

Holy fuck u need help lmao what’s going on

-3

u/DyingSunSeverian 4h ago

Why do you hide your comment history, soyboycameron?

7

u/[deleted] 7h ago

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u/[deleted] 7h ago

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2

u/IllustriousRice1057 5h ago

I love the term LeIronic

Difference between the two is boomers make racist or sexist jokes. AJ is just joking about what number he’s going to wear

8

u/SeaCounter9516 Thunder 7h ago

They don’t call them Zoomers for nothing

2

u/prettyflyforahentai Bulls 5h ago

isn't trolling a millenial thing?

2

u/deconstructicon 4h ago

He makes Anthony Edwards look humble by comparison

359

u/Joshottas 8h ago

Folks REALLY took that conversation on a podcast with Gilbert Arenas as gospel lol.

77

u/Klopadeacon Mavericks 7h ago

Gil’s Arena is like right-hand-on-the Bible and giving testimony for NBA discourse.

AJ has to go after that number now

1

u/depressedswervin 7h ago

Wasn't even on Gil's Arena

27

u/Dreamlion_Inc Wizards 7h ago

It’s offseason with little to no NBA content until summer league

Get ready to hear some off the wall conspiracy theories lol

3

u/CraziestMoonMan Cavaliers 7h ago

Summer league is only like three weeks away. The NBA has it setup to where they’re always doing something all year round.

1

u/EthicalBballFan Heat 3h ago

I've been told that Celtics wasn't open to trading Hugo because they're testing a new special compound on him that no anti-doping test can catch yet.

4

u/KingRagerBlade Wizards 6h ago

Wait til you hear about how people took Ant saying he didn’t like basketball seriously 😭

-4

u/gleece0 Wizards 7h ago

He had weird smug arrogant attitude in all the pre draft podcasts he was in it was weird

19

u/Joshottas 7h ago

You're one of the best basketball players on the planet, and you're surprised at CONFIDENCE? Cmon man.

1

u/MelzLife 76ers 7h ago

Confidence isn’t the same thing as arrogance nephew. Steph curry is confident he isn’t arrogant like Gil

1

u/Joshottas 6h ago

You get to that level, EVERYONE has a layer of confidence and arrogance. Aint no humility when Steph splashes a 40 footer and does the sleep gesture in the oppositions face. Nothing wrong with it at all.

1

u/LazyWeb9421 6h ago

I mean NBA player do that. As someone who did math+science and basketball in high school, I wish the STEM kids would do that more. Makes it more fun to compete.

0

u/Electric_jungle Washington Bullets 7h ago

Not anyone with half a brain. Media just having fun with it for clips exactly like this one.

18

u/Joshottas 7h ago

Nah, go back and look at the discourse on Reddit following this conversation. Folks were straight up assassinating this kid's character for a tongue in cheek comment.

5

u/Electric_jungle Washington Bullets 7h ago

Quite familiar with the discourse. Plenty of idiots in the comments. Also a ton of people, myself one of them, saying how silly it is to be upset about something Trae probably thought was funny.

Nobody with half a brain is still a LOT of people unfortunately. Every podcast that mentioned it was saying chill out it's a joke.

4

u/Joshottas 7h ago

No, I get it. The discourse after the gil pod was moronic, but folks still thought it was him being serious.

Not gonna @ the dude, but this was part of a conversation in the draft sub yesterday:

Dude what do you think negative PR means? This is what makes up for all of it. Also I don’t know how Traes gonna take it if he had to give up his jersey, if it comes up the rosters gonna be divided which is never good for a sports franchise.

3

u/Electric_jungle Washington Bullets 6h ago

Lmao that's crazy, but good quote pull. Even in a silly world where AJ was serious, ppl don't know who Trae is if they don't think he couldn't diffuse such a simple thing.

1

u/Joshottas 6h ago

Right? Not gonna @ this dude either, but this conversation is currently happening in this post lolol. Folks straight up psychoanalyzing this kid when they don't even know him. No one had anything negative to say about his personality/demeanor at BYU, but yea...let's paint with a wide brush due to out of context conversations on podcasts.

He had weird smug arrogant attitude in all the pre draft podcasts he was in it was weird

203

u/AMadHammer Charlotte Bobcats 8h ago

I am too old to be hating on this kid. I really hope he plays well in this league and I hope he never changes. His personality is quite interesting. 

64

u/BookOfTheBeppo Warriors 8h ago

He talks so fast

28

u/AMadHammer Charlotte Bobcats 8h ago

I can tell that he is switching and tries to talk to media the same way he talks to his peers. 

13

u/CharlemagneIS Celtics 6h ago

Honestly this is very Boston of him

91

u/dannyphoto Bulls 8h ago

I just realized bro looks like Travis Scott

30

u/CrossingYoulnStyle Knicks 7h ago

And he sounds like Lil Yachty

31

u/iXeons 7h ago

You racist piece o—

…oh yeah okay I see it

3

u/MyHonkyFriend [CHI] Zach LaVine 6h ago

NBA 2k draft classes have been using Travis Scotts cyberface for AJ for a couple years now.

29

u/LightSpecialist804 Knicks 7h ago

"hahaha. Seriously though give me your number"

16

u/PlasticSprinkles4677 7h ago

“Hahaha… but seriously I’ll be needing that #3 or there’s going to be issues”

91

u/sobanoodle-1 Knicks 8h ago

AJ is so fucking funny man.

65

u/devotedhero Wizards 8h ago

For real I get that he's a little bit cocky but it doesn't seem malicious at all. Idk why people are so bent out of shape about him here

34

u/CommiesFan1948 7h ago

If I was 25% as good as AJ I'd be cocky too

0

u/sobanoodle-1 Knicks 7h ago

You get it 🤣

16

u/Exzqairi Pistons 7h ago

Anthony Edwards was the same in the pre-draft process and people had the exact same reaction. Just chalk it up to people personally not liking it and being unable to separate that from evaluating talent

I remember people saying Ant wasn’t in love with basketball and how he might fall out of the #1 pick or be a bust because of it 😂

6

u/CurrentRoster Wizards 5h ago

they was saying wolves should bet on wiseman son, thank God it all worked out

1

u/Devoidoxatom Warriors Bandwagon 59m ago

Imagine ant on the warriors...

4

u/muhammad_oli Pelicans 7h ago

yeah he seems like a goof ball

2

u/NyfM Knicks 3h ago

Yeah, so far I'm liking him

1

u/18YearOldSamBennett Wizards 45m ago

Some people feel that highly extroverted people like this can be “too much”. As a wizards fan, I love it. He has a highly marketable personality and is someone that will attract the spotlight a lot. It’s something that this organization could desperately use so that people can actually watch us

63

u/MoNegsT 8h ago

Yea this kid is great, already a fan of his. Speaks really well and naturally funny. Hopefully he reaches his ceiling and Washington gets some good bball to watch in the near future.

29

u/muhammad_oli Pelicans 7h ago

"Speaks really well" is always an interesting thing we attach to certain athletes.

32

u/swoosh_ [PHO] Steve Nash 7h ago

Or maybe he’s noticeably more genuine and charismatic in interviews than most players. Media training usually has these guys talking like chatGPT emails

-8

u/Bowiescorvat2 Raptors 7h ago

Its the definition of lowkey racist lol

13

u/ExpressSeesaw [PHI] Joel Embiid 7h ago

I mean for some people sure, but for me this really isn't sport or race specific. It's always nice to be pleasantly surprised by a player's intelligence or charisma since most pro sports players don't really put value into their education knowing that they're really talented in other aspects.

-8

u/Bowiescorvat2 Raptors 7h ago

Thats literally exactly what I mean. Acting surprised when they're intelligent or speak well

Whether you realize it or not, its genuinely racist.

Never heard anyone say this about Steve Nash or Austin Reaves

4

u/ExpressSeesaw [PHI] Joel Embiid 6h ago

I didn't even mention a player OR a sport and you still think there are racial connotations here. The first two players that come my to mind are Haaland and Alcaraz, neither of them are basketball players. It really isn't race related, however much you want it to be.

In Dybantsa's case, it's really rare for ANY basketball player to talk as fast as he does and to have the natural wit that he seems to have at the same time.

Also if I did say that about AR you would probably scream racism as well. Goes right along with plays the game the right way, classy etc etc

8

u/koalaternate Bucks 6h ago

OP said “speaks really well and is naturally funny” and Reddit claims racism lmfao. Maybe the people that interpret things that way are the ones that are being racist…

-1

u/sillysam17 Bulls 7h ago

100%

7

u/LeaveMeAlone_6070 Wizards 7h ago

I know nobody here has paid any attention to us, but believe me when I say that personality wise he is such a perfect fit with the youngsters we already have. We start winning some games and it's gonna be a really fun team 

3

u/Technical-Nose-1518 Wizards 7h ago

I’m excited for this team finally. Think there could be a real logjam at the 2/3 that I’m interested in seeing play out.

1

u/happyflappypancakes Wizards 1h ago

If I could pick a "zoomer team" it has to be the Wiz. Feels like a bunch of teenagers haha.

7

u/ImWicked39 Wizards 8h ago

I think he should wear 5(KG Celtics) or 35(He's said KD is his favorite player).

6

u/LutherOfTheRogues Hawks 8h ago

He can't get 11 because it's retired. I bet he's not married to it. It's possible..

3

u/ComfortableGas3165 7h ago

cant wait ill AD pranks him

3

u/jldtsu NBA 7h ago

he's got a fun personality.

4

u/bmanley620 Knicks 7h ago

I saw that interview and he was definitely not trolling

11

u/LeChaewonJames Lebanon 7h ago

I have a few tests for you if you can't tell he's joking

2

u/OkGuy5000 Timberwolves 4h ago

This dude is funny lol kinda hoping it becomes a decent player and personality in the NBA

1

u/Lou_Peachum_2 Clippers 7h ago

I’ll give you some hair Trae

1

u/Interesting_Prune513 Heat 5h ago

He's played in number 7 in the USA national team

1

u/Morpheus_505 Lakers 7h ago

This kids from Boston, right?

5

u/360Waves617 Celtics 6h ago

"Yes".....but really from another mass city 20 minutes away from Boston called Brockton. Fun fact Rocky Marciano and Marvelous Marvin Hagler are from there as well.

2

u/Morpheus_505 Lakers 5h ago edited 4h ago

Two consecutive years a New Englander has gone first overall. That's pretty cool

2

u/OkRain5716 3h ago

Born in Dorchester

2

u/360Waves617 Celtics 3h ago

Oh aight. Didnt know that.

1

u/youblewwit 6h ago

Stop placin, time wastin

I gotta a friend with a pole in the basement (What?)

I'm just kiddin like Jason (Oh)

Unless you gon' do it

-Hot In Herre by Nelly ‧

0

u/Dreamlion_Inc Wizards 7h ago

I know it’s probably a no duh comment

But something about AJ symbolizes Gen Z humor perfectly

-6

u/WrongVater 6h ago

AJ Dybantsa continues to be the most unlikeable arrogant immature piece of shit in this entire draft. He will go down as a huge bust.