Banchero in the open, assisting Italy in basketball: “I can’t wait to go there”

The given word is still valid. “I intend to play for the Italian national team, but I don’t know when,” says Paolo Banchero, the Seattle Italian who fell below the 20-point threshold only on his seventh appearance in the NBA (18). In the first six with the Orlando Magic tank, winning only once (against the Charlotte Hornets, a franchise owned by Michael Jordan), “Paolino” had always gone far beyond: a feat so extraordinary that it was achieved, in the rookie category, only by legends such as Oscar Robertson, Elvin Hayes, Dominique Wilkins, Grant Hill and Wilt Chamberlain in 76 championships. The break-in on the Seattle “paisà” scene, absolute number one in the last Draft, did not go unnoticed. So much so as to feed fears, despite an Italian passport in his pocket since summer 2020, of a possible robbery by the United States. «Now I’m with Italy. I can’t wait to go there and the amount of love and affection I get from there is also insane ”, the confession in the“ Young Person ”videopodcast, shot more than a week ago, by teammate RJ Hamilton. Now more than ever the question concerns when Banchero, twenty years old on November 12, will be able to wear blue for the first time, effectively making any call with the USA impossible: a timing that we would like to match, in case of qualification, with the 2023 World Cup or at the latest with the 2024 Olympics and which must be compatible with the needs and programs of an NBA star, however nascent. The appointment in America to formalize the commitment with Italy is set for the first week of December: the Federbasket delegation, composed of president Petrucci, coach Pozzecco and dg Trainotti, will meet the Banchero, father and son, and the Orlando Magic “front office”, a step that is anything but secondary. The trip will also include a visit to the Utah Jazz and Simone Fontecchio. Banchero, meanwhile, continues to swear allegiance: «When I was 16, the Italian Federation contacted my father. We flew to San Francisco several times at the Italian embassy and ended up getting the passport. My great grandfather was born in Italy and then moved to Seattle. My father is called Mario, my uncle Angelo, another my uncle Armando and my brother Giulio, but we have never been to Italy ». Meanwhile, in order not to have problems on the altar with Paolo, it will be Italy of basketball that will go to the Banchero.