The Players’ Tribune

Tonight, AJ Dybantsa makes his NBA debut. Last year, he wrote: “There were signs my life was going to change. In eighth grade, I had this growth spurt, where I went from 5’9 to 6’3-ish in less than a year. I was hurting. My knees, everything. I have this mirror in my bathroom, right? Every morning, I’m at the sink brushing my teeth, all that, looking at myself in the mirror. Two weeks later, I’m looking at myself brushing my teeth, but I could see the top of my head a little bit less. Four weeks later, it’s like I can only see my chin. And then I’m like above the mirror. In two months. Everybody at school like, ‘Bro.........’ I would just sleep all the time. Sleeping, eating, and hooping. I picked up a basketball at five, so I’ve been playing ever since, but I didn’t really take it too serious ’til the pandemic hit. I remember we were in English class, and the teacher mentioned the COVID-19 outbreak. This was in seventh grade at Trinity Catholic. We were like, ‘Alright, cool. What does that mean for us?’ Two weeks later it was masks. A month later it was hybrid. And then it went full online. There was nothing to do, so I started hooping every day, doing three workouts a day. There were no indoor courts available, so you were just outside playing with the guys with a mask on. Eighth grade was an online hybrid year. Same thing. I was bored. I’m so serious. I was just bored. I was like, ‘Yo, I’m just trying to hoop.’ So that’s all I did. And I just started falling in love with it. COVID made me snap, on God. I went from being a kid who had a pretty normal childhood, not obsessing over the game or caring too much about losses, to thinking about it all the time, can’t wait to get to the court, willing to make sacrifices to keep this thing in my life. I just fell in love with getting better. Then everything started changing really fast. I think with the way stuff pops online, how easy it is to go stupid viral now, that’s just what it was. After I kind of blew up my freshman year, I got the chance to go out to Cali for prep school. I didn’t understand what was happening yet. I was just hooping. Then I remember I went to a party one night. It was me and my man. I’m like 6’7, and he was 6’5. We walked in, and we were literally head and shoulders above everybody in the whole spot. I’m like, ‘I’m out. I’m not staying.’ I have glasses on, and it’s not working. I was getting recognized. So since then, I’m not popping out to a lot of things anymore. The more kind of ‘known’ I get, the more people look at me all the time. And I’m just like, Bro, I’m like you. The thing is, even if you don’t know me, I stand out. Like Kevin Hart, people know who he is, but if he walks around with a hoodie on, you probably wouldn’t be able to tell it’s Kevin Hart. Me — I’m 6’9. So people are looking at me, regardless.” playerstribu.ne/Dybantsa @AJ_Dybantsa | @WashWizards | @BYUMBB

William Contreras: “I think the team we are now, how we play fearless, that’s where it comes from. We fear nothing, because we’ve experienced everything. When we got swept like that….. it’s disappointment, heartbreak, embarrassment, all those things. So then a year later, Brewers / Dodgers AGAIN, we win the first three but they go up 4–0 in Game 4 … of course we know what everyone’s thinking. About to be Red Sox / Yankees 2004. Dodgers won four in a row last year, they’ll do it again. OK. But what are WE thinking? What’s the vibe in OUR dugout? I actually won’t even say it was calm. It wasn’t calm! It was more, Nahhhhh..... LET’S END THIS. So that’s what we did. And just like last year when they swept us, and I said they were lucky to do that, I know this year we were probably lucky to sweep them. I won’t sit here and tell you the Brewers are unstoppable. I’ve been around. I know how quickly things can change in this game. Being hot in your last series, it doesn’t mean you stay hot in your next one. But I’ll tell you this: We’re a great team. We’ve been a great team. It’s just that every year, we’ve run into a team where it’s like, Those guys……. they found the magic. Now it’s THE WORLD SERIES though — so I guess it’s only two options left??? Either we’re about to run into them, or we are them.” playerstribu.ne/WContreras @Wcontreras42 | @Brewers | @MLB

In 2018, Christian Yelich wrote about his trade to the Milwaukee Brewers: “I’ve never seen anything like this town when it comes to people being nice. For real. It’s a stereotype about the Midwest, but it’s true. It’s pretty ridiculous how nice people are in Milwaukee. It’s like you’re a member of everyone’s family or something. Even before I arrived in town in January [2018], I got a taste of that hospitality. After I got traded, it was like a whirlwind — tons of calls and arrangements. My head was spinning there for a second. I was back visiting my mother in Southern California at the time, and I wanted to get to Milwaukee to meet everyone at the fan fest, but there was just a lot going on at once. Everything was just super complicated. Then, all of a sudden … it wasn’t.... Everyone made me feel so welcomed. I just remember sitting there on that plane with all those guys thinking about how much this organization really does seem like one big family.... We fully understand that this team is more than just a random group of guys to you all — that the Brewers genuinely mean something to you. We realize that when we’re playing well it actually affects your lives and results in a certain level of joy and happiness throughout the city … and, actually, all across the state. That’s big for us. We truly value that. And at the end of the day, I keep coming back to how this organization, and all those who support it, really are like one big family. To be at our best, and most happy … we need each other.” playerstribu.ne/ChristianYel… @ChristianYelich | @Brewers

🎨: Becca Estrella for The Players’ Tribune