00:00Mr. A.J. DeBonsa taking a few minutes with us. Congratulations, man. How you doing?
00:04Thank you. I'm good. I'm good. I'm blessed.
00:06Dude, what was it like? This is your first real interaction with Wiz fans.
00:09What was the love like? What was the excitement like?
00:12It was a lot of love.
00:13Everybody just came in my name. Everybody just wanted me here, bro. I just feel good.
00:16That's great, man.
00:18What has the last 48 hours been for you?
00:21Last night was the first night I slept.
00:24The day before to drive by and sleep. Drive down and sleep.
00:26It's been all around. I went to miss these games. I went to Capital One.
00:30Did a whole bunch of stuff on the Today Show.
00:32Going to America. Just doing a lot of media stuff.
00:35What's next in your mind?
00:37Do you get into work and want to get this thing started up?
00:40Yeah, definitely. I definitely want to get in the lab with some of the guys
00:41and just pick their brains.
00:43See what the NBA is like. See what the chemistry is going to look like.
00:46Where guys want the ball. Where guys want lobs at.
00:48Where guys want shots at. So we've got to get it going.
00:50So you decided on number four.
00:52How'd you land on four?
00:53I think that's a great number, by the way.
00:55Thank you. I mean, I won number three for the past
00:57three or four years.
00:59When I was in the one overall pick.
01:00I just added them together.
01:01Oh, that's perfect, dude.
01:03There we go.
01:03That's perfect.
01:05What have you thought of D.C.?
01:07I know it's been crazy.
01:08But, like, I'm hoping you've seen it.
01:10I'm hoping you've got a police escort to get around.
01:12Because the traffic around here is tough.
01:14No, I do. I do. I do.
01:15I've been here plenty of times, actually.
01:17Just growing up, my parents always liked to travel.
01:19So, I mean, I've been to the White House.
01:20I've been to the Capitol.
01:21I've been inside the White House, actually, for Junior NBA.
01:22Oh, cool.
01:23I've been to the Monument.
01:24I mean, last year, Jordan Brand Classic was actually here.
01:26So, I played in the Mystics Arena.
01:28Went to the Martin Luther King.
01:29I went to everywhere.
01:30But, definitely, now, as it was, I'm definitely going to try to revisit all those sites.
01:33As a person with an international background, and you seem like a deep thinker,
01:39does it resonate with you that you're playing in the nation's capital?
01:44Oh, I mean, I guess I haven't really.
01:45I mean, I've thought about it a little bit.
01:48Which, like, I mean, I just thought about just the fan base, how crazy it is.
01:51Like, it being the nation's capital also probably just brings a lot more attention, obviously.
01:54But, I didn't think that deep.
01:56That's all right.
01:57A lot of it, dude.
01:58You've been busy.
01:59You've been busy.
02:00The thing about this city, I play football in this city.
02:02You win in this city, that love goes a long way, man.
02:06You ready to do that?
02:07Yeah, of course.
02:07I mean, definitely try to make the playoffs first year.
02:10Might have years away to win the championship, but that's the goal, for sure.
02:13That's great to hear.
02:14Have you heard from the teammates?
02:15I know you and Trey, I was standing there when you and Trey were FaceTiming.
02:19He's like, are all the cameras there?
02:21You're like, yeah.
02:21He's like, all right, I'll hit you later.
02:23As you start to have these private conversations, what's it like?
02:26No, I didn't have a private conversation with Trey yet.
02:29Because that night, I was outing about doing whatever I had billboards to do.
02:34But I spoke with Keyshawn yesterday.
02:35We went to the Mystics game.
02:36Cool.
02:37I spoke with Keyshawn, yeah.
02:37Have you talked to AD at all?
02:39No, not yet.
02:39Okay.
02:40Not yet, no.
02:40You seem to have a very, very close-knit relationship with Japan, like most guys do.
02:45What is it that you're thinking about?
02:47They've done so much for you.
02:48What do you want to do for them?
02:49I mean, a lot.
02:52I just want to just make them super proud.
02:55Obviously, they don't really want to take gifts from me anymore.
02:57Got to that point, I'll be buying stuff for my parents.
02:59I'm like, bro, we don't even need it no more.
03:01But I just want them to be proud.
03:03What does it mean, obviously, you're super tight with your family, that you guys have
03:06accomplished one of your goals, right?
03:09Like, your goal was to get here, to be number one.
03:12Or have you allowed yourself to think about that sense of accomplishment?
03:16Yeah, definitely.
03:17Like, as soon as my name got called, I was just like, yo, this is actually crazy.
03:19This is actually happening.
03:21But then that night, everybody was just celebrating my success.
03:23So, I mean, it definitely felt good.
03:24What kind of are the next goals?
03:26You're saying playoffs in year one.
03:27I'm like, are you willing to kind of set the bar high like that?
03:31I mean, you have to.
03:32I mean, why set the bar so short?
03:34Don't be like we're years away from doing something I think we're capable of doing year
03:38one.
03:39Obviously, I'm resigning Trey and an all-star playing guard.
03:41And then AD coming in, if he's healthy, we're going to have a Hall of Fame big.
03:45He won a championship.
03:45He knows what it takes to get there.
03:47I definitely think we have a young enough core and a good enough core to just make a
03:50playoff home.
03:51You said something draft night.
03:52You got asked a question about who's a player you think is a good comp that people
03:57don't think of.
03:58And you mentioned Len Bias' name.
04:00And you'll learn about this area that the University of Maryland is very much a part
04:04of the DMV.
04:05And Len Bias' name in this area carries a ton of weight.
04:09What type of student of basketball are you that you knew about Lenny?
04:12I mean, he passed before you were born.
04:15I mean, it came up on my TikTok one time.
04:17And everybody sent me back to Michael Jordan if he had lived.
04:20So, I mean, I kind of did my research because they said he was like 6'8", 220, 40,
04:23and that kind of sounded like me.
04:25So, I'm going to do some research on him.
04:26That's pretty cool, man.
04:27That is really, really pretty cool.
04:29How much do you look at the guys from before you and learn stuff from their game?
04:34I mean, a decent amount.
04:35A decent amount.
04:35Definitely like the better guys.
04:37The stuff they did still translates.
04:39So, you go to Michael Jordan, you go to Chase McGrady, you go to those guys.
04:41The middies still translates to this game, to one of the best scorers in the game.
04:45I don't go too, too deep.
04:47I mean, I'm actually pretty close to the big O.
04:50That's incredible.
04:51I went to the finals with him, and he was there at the draft.
04:53So, I try to take bits and pieces from the old head of the game, but the game's changed
04:57so much, like, you can't take everything.
04:58So, I wanted to ask you about a social media post that I was blown away by.
05:02You posted to LinkedIn.
05:04Yeah.
05:05Yeah, I saw that.
05:07What made you think to do that?
05:08Because this is your career.
05:09Yeah, I mean, I've been super tapped in, and then I have some people that's just been
05:12super tapped on LinkedIn, like, yo, why aren't you on LinkedIn?
05:14And I was like, what's that?
05:15And I kind of told him about it, and I was like, I mean, I might as well tap in.
05:18Like, that's a different fan base that people want to see.
05:20Sure.
05:20That's where the money people are.
05:23And they, you know, invited me to the offices at the Empire State, got to meet with those
05:27people, did, like, a little fake interview, so I mean, that's cool.
05:29That's really cool.
05:30So, dude, do you get to relax?
05:31Like, when are you, when do you get to relax a little bit?
05:35Oh, since I got drafted?
05:36Oh, I don't know.
05:38I don't know, to be honest.
05:39Maybe after Summer League, who knows?
05:41Summer League is next, right?
05:43Yeah.
05:43Summer League is next, right?
05:45How excited are you for that opportunity to get to Vegas and play with your new teammates?
05:50And it won't be the full roster, right?
05:51You're not going to have Trey and AD and some of the veterans there, but just to play with
05:55the other young guys.
05:56No, it's going to be fun.
05:57I mean, I've played with some of these guys before, played with Roe Riley, played against,
06:01actually played with Trey at Steph Curry camp, so definitely to reunite with some of those
06:05guys.
06:06But then, like, see guys like, you know, Felix, who we just drafted, and other guys.
06:09It'll be fun.
06:10Oh, it's going to be incredible, man.
06:12Have you eaten anything today?
06:13Like, I feel like you're such a whirlwind, like, you're taking some time for yourself.
06:18I've got to eat.
06:19I've got to eat.
06:19That's mandatory.
06:21What are you into?
06:22I'm trying to think DMV food.
06:23I doubt you've tried.
06:24They have everything here.
06:25Mambo sauce, half smokes, any of that resonate?
06:29Nah.
06:30We've got to change that.
06:31You've got people here.
06:32We've got to change that.
06:33Yeah, I'm going to tap in for sure.
06:34I'm here for a banana, so I'm going to tap in for sure.
06:36Are you a seafood guy?
06:38Yeah, I am.
06:38I'm from Bradford, so.
06:40Oh, right.
06:40The New England guy.
06:41So, are you a lobster guy?
06:43Yeah, I mean, I actually like the seafood boils, so.
06:45I've got crab, lobster, crawfish, shrimp, everything.
06:48You like crawfish?
06:49Yeah.
06:50We've got a Louisiana guy here.
06:51Oh, yeah.
06:52Maybe we've got, you should bring him a pot of gumbo as a welcome to D.C. president.
06:56We can do that.
06:56We can do that.
06:57AJ, dude, I know you've got a million responsibilities.
07:00The guys back in the office want me to ask you about the song you want to come out to
07:05when you get introduced.
07:06I mean, I think everybody want me to come out to on one tonight, but I'm like a walking meme
07:10right now.
07:12But I don't know.
07:13The song is going to take a lot of thought.
07:15There's going to be a song that's going to be with me forever, so I'm definitely going
07:18to take a lot of thought.
07:18All right.
07:19I'm going to come up with a little dance like John did and everything.
07:22When John came out and did the Dougie was one of the most electric moments for this
07:26franchise.
07:28So I know you've talked to John.
07:30What has that relationship been like?
07:32He went through a lot of the steps you're going through.
07:34I mean, I've known him for like probably two and a half years now, him meeting me in Indianapolis,
07:38but I mean, he's just been a good resource.
07:40Especially now he comes to the West, he's even a better resource, and I can just kind of
07:43ask him questions, stuff like that.
07:44That's so cool, man.
07:45Well, this city is so excited you're here.
07:47I got to tell you, so I know a million fans were screaming for you.
07:50My youngest daughter, I call her AJ.
07:52It's her nickname.
07:53And when she found out the Wizards drafted AJ, she's over the moon.
07:57So you've got one number one fan and seven-year-old Ainsley James.
08:01I promise you that.
08:02You can tell your pop dad, too.
08:03Is he here somewhere?
08:04I really enjoyed chatting with him in Brooklyn.
08:06He's somewhere.
08:07He's probably running around, too.
08:08Let's get him some food, some relaxation as well.
08:11AJ, thank you for making time with us.
08:13Thank you so much.
08:13Really appreciate it, dude.
08:14Congratulations.
08:16AJ DeBonta joining us.
08:17I appreciate you making time.
08:18I know you've got a lot to do.
08:20We'll be right back on Be Mitch at Finland.
Comments