The first round of the 2026 NBA Draft is officially in the books, and if you have too short of an attention span to fully dive into the 30 players who heard their names called Tuesday night, here’s one fact about each player you can wow your friends and colleagues with:1. AJ Dybantsa (Washington Wizards) Dybantsa was extremely close with former Kentucky star Terrence Clarke, who tragically passed away in a car accident just weeks before the 2021 NBA Draft. The pair grew up in the same Boston area neighborhood, and Clarke took Dybantsa under his wing and served as a mentor for the future No. 1 pick. On draft night, Dybantsa’s suit featured a blue pin shaped like a heart that read “TC5” in honor of Clarke, who wore No. 5 at Kentucky.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement2. Darryn Peterson (Utah Jazz)Peterson became the first high school athlete to sign a name, image and likeness deal when he inked one with Adidas at just 16-years-old. Shortly after, he signed another deal with Fanatics, becoming the youngest athlete to ever sign a trading card deal.3. Cameron Boozer (Memphis Grizzlies) Boozer didn’t capture a national championship during his one and only season at Duke, but he still continued his lengthy history of accumulating individual accolades and other titles. He’ll head to the NBA with an outrageous resume that includes being the 2025-26 consensus national Player of the Year, the ACC Player of the Year, ACC Rookie of the Year, three-time Florida Mr. Basketball, two-time Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year (including one at the age of 15 in 2023), four state championships, two gold medals with Team USA, two FIBA World Cup MVP Awards, a McDonald’s All-American Game co-MVP award and three Peach Jam championships.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement4. Caleb Wilson (Chicago Bulls)Wilson is a lego enthusiast who built a Lego Lamborghini Countach during his one season at North Carolina.“I didn’t commit to Carolina to come here and go to karaoke night,” Wilson said last October. “I came here to be a great basketball player, so I do things that are kind of mentally freeing off the court because I feel like it is definitely important for you to have a mental balance and you can’t put all your mental cards in one deck.”5. Keaton Wagler (L.A. Clippers) Perhaps the best story of the draft, Wagler became the first player of the “scouting network” era to not be a top 100 recruit according to any of the three major scouting services and still be a one-and-done lottery pick. Only 247 Sports had Wagler as a top 150 prospect in the class of 2025, and they had him No. 150.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementView Link6. Mikel Brown Jr. (Brooklyn Nets) Despite playing in just 21 games because of a lingering back injury, Brown Jr. still made history in his first and last season at Louisville. His 45-point effort against NC State in February set the record for points in a game by an ACC freshman, and matc Read More Feedzy
NBA Draft: 1 interesting fact about all 30 first round 2026 picks
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