{"id":803,"section":"sports","section_label":"Sports","url":"https://www.brokenews.co/sports/803","headline":"Wizards' No. 1 pick Dybantsa hurts ankle in preseason finale","dek":"The ankle injury came on an awkward landing against the Pelicans and now has his season opener in doubt.","body":"AJ Dybantsa, the Wizards' first overall pick, left Washington's preseason finale against the Pelicans on Friday after spraining his left ankle on an awkward landing.\n\nThe extent of the injury has not been disclosed, and Dybantsa is set to undergo further evaluation. Until more details emerge, it is unclear whether he will be sidelined for an extended stretch or just a handful of days.\n\nThe bigger concern for Washington is timing. With opening night approaching, the injury puts Dybantsa's debut in jeopardy, denying the Wizards and their fans an immediate look at the top pick in a real NBA game. For a rebuilding franchise that has pinned plenty of hope on him, any delay to his first regular-season minutes is an unwelcome wrinkle before the year even starts.\n\nNo further updates on his recovery timeline have been released. The Wizards will presumably provide more clarity on his status as opening night draws closer.","published_at":"2026-10-17T23:48:29.232361+00:00","source_count":3,"written_from":[{"outlet":"New York Post","publisher":"New York Post","title":"AJ Dybantsa’s Wizards debut in jeopardy after ankle injury in preseason finale","url":"https://nypost.com/2026/10/17/sports/wizards-aj-dybantsa-injures-ankle-in-preseason-finale-with-opening-night-in-doubt/"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"No. 1 overall pick AJ Dybantsa exits Wizards' preseason game with ankle injury","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/no-1-overall-pick-aj-162149074.html"},{"outlet":"ESPN","publisher":"ESPN","title":"No. 1 pick Dybantsa to have ankle checked after leaving preseason finale","url":"https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/50200909/no-1-pick-aj-dybantsa-set-evaluation-injuring-ankle"}],"more_coverage":[{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"AJ Dybantsa exits Wizards’ preseason game vs. Pelicans after painful ankle roll","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/aj-dybantsa-exits-wizards-preseason-023358300.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Recap | Wizards drop preseason finale to Pelicans, 107-106","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/recap-wizards-drop-preseason-finale-032656393.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"AJ Dybantsa’s Wizards debut in jeopardy after ankle injury in preseason finale","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/aj-dybantsa-wizards-debut-jeopardy-170957655.html"}],"image":null,"embed":null,"license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","attribution":"Analysis data is licensed CC BY 4.0. Credit brokenews and link to the story page you took it from. Source headlines, story titles taken from a source headline, and quoted passages remain the property of their publishers and are quoted for comparison, not licensed onward.","terms":"https://www.brokenews.co/about#reuse"}