Management Plus Enterprises CEO Leonard Armato was hired to be the advisor for the prized recruit after his family received a shining endorsement from Armato’s former client and close friend Shaquille O’Neal.

Getty Images/Illustration by Lorenzo Gordon

A Greek restaurant in California’s posh Manhattan Beach enclave served as the backdrop for a meeting of minds last summer about what just might be basketball’s next big thing. Brand guru Leonard Armato—well-known in the sports industry for serving as CMO of Skechers as well as founding Shaquille O’Neal’s shoe brand and the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball tour—set up the lunch at Petros, walking distance from his home. The guests: Ace Dybantsa and his son, AJ, one of the most highly regarded high-school basketball prospects in years. The topic: how Armato’s experience turning jocks into commercial juggernauts could elevate Dybantsa’s status off the court.

The lunch went well, and an alliance was formed. Armato was hired to be the advisor for the nation’s top-rated prep player, who committed in December to play college ball at Brigham Young University. The opportunity to be a confidant for the potential No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft wouldn’t have been possible, though, without Armato’s star former client, Shaq, who sent a glowing referral to Ace.

After all, more than 20 agents had contacted the family to pitch their services. But the Dybantsa family wasn’t interested in an agent. They wanted a trusted voice to help them navigate the evolving commercial athlete landscape and someone who could work in tandem with Ace, who serves as his son’s manager.

“I’m grateful to Shaq, because he gave me such a warm and powerful endorsement,” Armato said in a phone interview.

In December 2023, Ace Dybantsa was preparing to watch his son play at the Chick-Fil-A Classic tournament in Lexington, S.C., when he was approached by Deon Wallace. A longtime friend and former youth basketball teammate of O’Neal, Wallace later connected Ace with O’Neal, who offered to support him in any way he could. After the relationship with a previous consultant deteriorated, Ace found himself seeking assistance to filter incoming deal opportunities for his in-demand son. O’Neal, now the president of Reebok Basketball, referred Ace to Armato, known as the orchestrator of the Shaq brand that intersected between music, TV and technology in an era when that was rare.

“Shaq told me that [Leonard] taught [him] everything that he knew,” Dybantsa said in a phone interview. “That was his quote.”

The endorsement led to Armato’s company Management Plus Enterprises being hired to advise the Dybantsa family on everything associated with NIL and the building of AJ’s brand. It’s a fitting role for Armato, the former CEO of AVP Pro Beach Volleyball who has a history of transforming intellectual property into global brands, like what he did helping Oscar De La Hoya create one of the largest boxing promotion companies (Golden Boy Productions).

Armato, a former agent turned sports entrepreneur and executive, is selective nowadays on the athletes he counsels. He doesn’t recruit anymore after once repping a swath of star NBA athletes from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to Hakeem Olajuwon. However, the potential of AJ Dybantsa, a generational talent from Brockton, Mass., was intriguing enough to commit to a second act. Armato, who worked on AJ’s high school NIL deal, believes he can help grow the profile of the McDonald’s All American. AJ is already set to be one of the highest paid college basketball players ever, earning more than $5 million in NIL money, according to CBS Sports.

“The playbook is still relevant,” Armato said. “It just needs to be updated with the fragmentation of media … Athletes are not only marketing vehicles for brands but can be even more valuable since they can reach people through their own communication platforms… We want [AJ] to focus on basketball (since) it’s central to his future, but as a media company you can be powerful and if you can start at 18 years old, that’s pretty darn good.”

The Dybantsa camp isn’t in a rush, as he has yet to set foot on campus in Provo, an insulated college town with little distraction. They’re letting the social media content creation endeavors happen incrementally, as well as building his endorsement portfolio. AJ currently only has deals with Red Bull and Nike (his deal with the Swoosh is expiring this summer and will likely see a hefty renewal).

For now, he’s wrapping up his final days at Utah Prep Academy before he becomes a Cougar and learns everything he can under BYU head coach Kevin Young, a former NBA assistant for the Phoenix Suns and Philadelphia 76ers.

The representation model for Dybantsa is indicative of today’s landscape where more athletes are opting to keep their dealings as a family business and cutting out the formal middleman. It comes after MVP frontrunner and Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander fired his on-court agent to represent himself alongside family counsel. The rising stars of today’s generation are questioning the value of agents with whom they have little rapport, especially since contracts for elite players are essentially set thanks to previously agreed-upon collective bargaining agreements.

“This is the new model,” Armato said. “There is no agent. There is some form of management and some form of advisory services.”

AJ Dybantsa has grown close to his favorite player, Suns star Kevin Durant, who also took the unconventional route of being repped by his close friend and business partner Rich Kleiman. The two together co-founded investment company 35V in 2016. The two are credited with shaking up the typical agent-player relationship that for decades was categorized as transactional and not as equitable partners.

“I’m not here to bash agents,” Ace Dybantsa said. “But when you’re one of the top guys, do you really need an agent?”

Ace maintains his role as the manager and point person for his son. In fact, he would rather be called dad. But he knows his limitations, which is why he facilitated a deal with Armato and his company. The expertise of Armato is expected to help the incoming BYU star accomplish his goals off the court, which include one day having a career in broadcasting like the gentle giant who initiated the connection last year.

“He wants to be like Shaq when he’s done playing,” Ace said.