In Paolo Banchero’s future there is – in all likelihood – the prize of rookie of the year. But what is perhaps most interesting on this side of the ocean is another development of his career, the one that concerns him which country will decide to represent on the fieldat the national level, if the one in which he was born (the United States) or that of his family’s origin (theItalia). A topic also covered in the last episode of podcast “Knuckleheads”, with the number 5 of the Orlando Magic guest of Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles. Who pressed him on the subject. “Do you have Italian citizenship?”. “Yes”. “So you could play for their national team?”. “Yes, I could do that.” “But you’re going to play for Team USA, right?“. “I don’t know yet, This is the question that everyone asks me all the time“, Banchero’s first response. Who then tells Richardson and Miles about his origins in our country, which date back to his great-grandfather: “And then my father is called Mario, his brother is called Giulio, my uncle Angelo – we have all these names Italians, and of course growing up I wondered where they came from. But my father and I have never been to Italy, I’m trying to organize myself to go there in the summer because my father always told me that he wanted to go there, sooner or later, to meet that side of our family that is still there. There was the opportunity to have an Italian passport, and become an Italian citizen, and I seized it”, Banchero continues, admitting however that now what awaits him is a kind of “dilemma”.
The disappointments from Team USA and a dilemma to face
Which he explains thus: “The absurd thing is that many times I have made gods tryouts for Team USAfor the junior team, but I’ve always been rejected. When I was in high school Team USA gave me more than one disappointment, to be honest: they cut me several times, often leaving a bad taste in my mouth. Then the Italian Federation got together with my father, when I was 16-17 years old, and they helped me get my Italian passport and citizenship. If there hadn’t been Covid, I would probably have already played for the Italian national team already at 17-18, and most likely I wouldn’t have missed that opportunity. But then everything stopped, e a lot has happened since then: i went to college, i did what i did at duke, i became the n°1 the draft – so now things are a little different, mainly because at the head of USA Basketball today there is a former Duke (and Orlando) player like Grant Hill. In short, there is a decision to make”, concludes Banchero in the last seconds of his chat with “Knuckleheads”. A decision that still leaves everyone with bated breath.