Duke Basketball Great Gets Blasted After Joining Team USA
Last week, the Orlando Magic's reigning NBA Rookie of the Year, Paolo Banchero, committed to Team USA for the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Manila, Philippines, beginning Aug. 25. The 20-year-old Seattle native — born and raised — will join forces with New Orleans Pelicans star and fellow Duke basketball product Brandon Ingram.
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Safe to say Banchero's decision, or at least how he handled it, didn't sit well with Italian Basketball Federation president Gianni Petrucci.
"It was a legitimate decision, but he could have made a call to communicate that to us," Petrucci said about Banchero, whose father is of Italian descent, during a recent interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport. "Instead, we learned about his decision from the newspapers.
"In the past few days, he was in Milan, and despite our agreements with his agency, he avoided the meeting with [Team Italy head coach Gianmarco Pozzecco]."
Petrucci didn't stop there.
"Betrayal, especially in basketball, is a strong word," he explained. "Situations like this happen. And personally, I'm used to it. But he fooled us. We were planning a great commercial strategy for him. Now, we need to turn this disappointment into positive energy. I'm sure our coach will be able to do it."
At the time of Paolo Banchero's decision, ESPN's Brian Windhorst noted that the 2021-22 Duke basketball centerpiece and former No. 1 overall draft pick "was previously verbally committed to playing for Italy."
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According to Windhorst, Blue Devil legend Grant Hill, now the managing director of Team USA, played a role in securing Banchero's services for head coach Steve Kerr over Italy, which "had been recruiting Banchero since he was 16 and helped him get a passport in 2020, clearing the way for him to join the team."
To the ratings' dismay, Team USA and Team Italy are not in the same group for pool play. The earliest they could meet is in the quarterfinals on Sept. 5.
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