'Real Competitive' Magic Rookie Paolo Banchero 'Trying to Win Every Game'
ORLANDO - Ever since Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero rose on the scene, the 6-10 forward has been a winner.
"Especially coming from Duke, [Banchero] knows how to win," Magic forward Wendell Carter Jr. said. "He was the number one pick and the number one pick usually goes to not the best team in the league. I want him to understand that what he did to get here is good enough."
In his sophomore season at O'Dea High School in Seattle Washington, Banchero led the Irish with over 18 points, 10 rebounds and four assists en route to the Class 3A state championship while taking home MVP honors in that game.
The Washington native would go on the play for Duke over his hometown Huskies and Kentucky Wildcats; choosing to play for Mike Krzyzewski, the winningest coach in college basketball history.
In Coach K's final season coaching basketball, Banchero handled the expectations with ease, winning 32 games and guiding Duke to the Final 4 of the NCAA tournament in his coaches last dance.
But for the Magic, a team who won just 22 games a year ago and finished dead last in the Eastern Conference, the expectations are to finish around the same spot this season.
"It'll be a lot different, but it's not something that I'm just going to get used to and just accept," Banchero said to Marc Stein in response to handling losses this season.
"I'm trying to win every game out there. We've got guys on the team who share the same mentality, so I don't think we're just going to get comfortable with losing and just make it a thing where we're coming into the game just expecting to lose, or that we're just going to move on if we lose a close game. That's just not the guy I am. I'm real competitive."
With a young core consisting of Banchero, Carter, Franz Wagner, Jalen Suggs and Cole Anthony, the team is preparing to defy all odds and contend for a play-in spot.
And if history repeats itself, Banchero is ready to make it happen.
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