Paolo Banchero vs. Dejounte Murray: When Will Magic Rookie Meet 'Rival'?
ORLANDO - The Orlando Magic schedule continues to reveal itself.
Earlier this month, Paolo Banchero and Atlanta Hawks guard Dejounte Murray got in a spat during a Seattle Pro-Am game. Now, the league and its players are building it into a new rivalry of sorts for the No. 1 overall pick and the recently-traded All-Star.
"Good entertainment, that Orlando-Atlanta matchup," All-Star Paul George said on a Twitch stream earlier this month. "That Paolo [Banchero], Dejounte [Murray] sh*t. But they from the same city, so pretty sure it's all for the love of the game."
According to Yahoo! Sports, their first meeting as NBA players will take place Oct. 21, likely the Magic's second game, in Atlanta. The Magic will open the season Oct. 19 on the road against the Detroit Pistons.
Murray, who made his first All-Star team this past season with the San Antonio Spurs before an offseason trade to the Hawks, has participated in a few pro-am games as of late. Unlike any other NBA player, he's made social media waves for his conduct during them. He tapped the ball aggressively on someone's head before driving by them, and now, he's apparently got into it with Banchero.
Take the play where he was tapping the ball on his opponent's head in the clip below. The clip went viral on social media, and rightfully so. It's a disrespectful thing to do. Again, is that beneficial to the kids who observed in the stands at Seattle Pacific University?
Murray then made social media waves once again by apparently getting into with Banchero, who was just selected by the Magic with the top overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. He made a highlight play by faking a pass to the corner then throwing it off the backboard to himself at Banchero's expense, then had words for him after the play.
The highlight play is fine, but it seemed to be done out of spite for Banchero. After the game, Banchero posted on his Instagram story that Murray had unfollowed him on all social media. Murray responded by saying Banchero had changed after being the top pick.
It seems outsiders are not going to grasp Murray's side of the story since there is additional context he feels was worthy of taking this public approach. It still doesn't have a great look to be approaching things in such a manner with how much attention it draws away from two NBA stars taking the time to play in front of their community.
Perhaps handling whatever issue Murray had with Banchero's "change" in behavior from the past in a private setting could have been the better option. Now, there appears to be a lot of unnecessary drama resulting from games that are meant for the community.
But that drama will play out during the regular season. As divisional opponents, the Magic and Hawks will meet four times throughout the season, with the first being in just the season's second game.
