Paolo Banchero diary: I want people to learn the type of person, competitor I am

ORLANDO, Fla. – Being a Seattle native has given Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero a chip on his shoulder.

Banchero believes that he and his fellow Northwest natives always have to prove their worth to the rest of the country. As a member of the Magic, the same can be said for the 2024 NBA All-Star and his young and rising squad trying to make noise in the league. There’s little buzz surrounding Banchero and the Magic nationally entering the 2024-25 season. But by season’s end, the svelte and muscular 6-foot-10, 250-pounder believes his Magic will have the NBA’s attention during a breakthrough season.

“Definitely similar to Seattle in that way where guys playing here don’t feel like they are maybe as respected as they would like to be on a national scale,” Banchero, 21, told Andscape from the Magic’s practice facility Monday afternoon. “You got to earn that. That was something that me, the rest of the guys, set out a goal to earn the respect of our peers. And we’ve done that. Now it’s time to etch our name as a top contender.”

During the 2024-25 NBA season, Banchero will be sharing insight into his life with the Magic in his monthly diary on Andscape. Draymond Green, Vince Carter, Trae Young, CJ McCollum, Fred VanVleet, De’Aaron Fox, Cade Cunningham, James Wiseman, Josh Jackson and most recently Bradley Beal have participated in previous diaries.

Below is Banchero’s first diary entry from the Magic’s practice facility, as told to Andscape senior NBA writer Marc J. Spears. Banchero talks about why Seattle “pound for pound” produces the best basketball players in America, taking blame for the Magic losing in a deciding Game 7 in the first round of the playoffs, his optimism about this season, Friday night’s home opener, his hair braiding process and more.

I’m doing this diary because I just want people to learn the type of person I am, the type of competitor I am, how I learn, how I see things and hopefully [they] get to learn something about me they didn’t know. Obviously, you only see what’s shown. A lot of people maybe have a different opinion on me just based off and the stuff they hear me say or my outlook on certain things. So, I’m excited for it.

I’m Paolo Banchero from Seattle, Washington — the top left of the country. Guys from there, we naturally have a chip on our shoulder because we feel like we’re not seen as much as some of the other places around the country. That was always something I had, that chip coming from Seattle, being born and raised there. Both my mom and dad are from Seattle, so, it’s in my blood. I just take it with me wherever I go, that chip, that swag.

Seattle is pound for pound the best basketball factory in the country. When you look at the depth we have and the history … it’s not like we have just one wave of guys or just one generation that was putting out a lot of professionals. We got years on years, whether it’s Doug Christie — that’s the one of the first OGs — and then you got Jason Terry, you got Isaiah Thomas, Jamal Crawford. The list goes on and on and on from generation to generation, year by year. And, I feel like I’m kind of a new generation leading that. And we got a lot of guys who are younger than me coming up as well.

So, it’s, it’s a well-oiled machine down there. And I think the one thing that just separates us is that no one that makes it out of Seattle and makes it to the big stage makes it about themselves and leaves everyone behind. You always see them come back to Seattle, Tacoma, wherever they may be [from]. And they give back to their communities, to the same people that helped them through their journey. That’s something that I picked up on as a kid watching guys like Jamal Crawford, Spencer Hawes, Aaron Brooks. There’s just so many names I can say where I saw them at a young age giving back. They showed me that once I do get there, there’s a way that you got to go about it to inspire the next generation of young hoopers. And there is no other place like Seattle in that aspect where you got so many guys that make it and then come back to show the younger kids how to how to do the same thing.

Orlando is a lot smaller than I first thought. Before I got drafted, I had never been to Orlando. I always thought of it to be a way bigger city, I don’t know why. [Walt] Disney [World] and whatnot, I thought it would be bigger. But when I got here, I realized how small it was and quickly found out the vibe of the city at the time. Not a lot of eyes here. Not a lot of attention here.

The Magic made the playoffs last season for the first time since 2020. Banchero had 38 points and 16 rebounds in 42 minutes during a season-ending 106-94 Game 7 first-round loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Last [season] going into the playoffs, we were all interested to see how we’d handle the moment and the pressure. And we handled it pretty well for being our first time.

When we got to Game 7, obviously that’s the do-or-die game. I just remember it being hella early in the morning. It was a 1 p.m. game. So, we were up at 8:30-9 a.m. going to the arena. You had to be ready right away. It wasn’t one of them 7 p.m. games where you could sit there and think about it the whole day. You had to be ready as soon as you woke up.

When I got there before the game, I just remember thinking that this is war. Us versus them. Obviously, we were in Cleveland. Nobody was going to have our backs in terms of the crowd. I just remember seeing my mom and my grandma both looking at me toward the start of the tipoff. And just giving me a look and just telling me to go out there and give it everything I had. My grandma, she always tells me before every game, ‘Show up and show out.’

I remember being happy to see them there supporting me and just me wanting to go out there and give every ounce of effort that I had. It was a back-and-forth game. We were up 18 in the first half. Feeling great. We had a comfortable lead. And I think that was one of our mistakes was getting a little too comfortable with that lead and not realizing that you’re only a few plays away from being a game to where your back is against the wall.

They made a run right as the third quarter started and cut that lead down quickly to four points. And then after that, it was a real back-and-forth game. I felt myself run out of gas a little bit. And that was like one of my biggest motivators coming into this offseason was getting in the best shape I possibly could and pushing my body to limits that I hadn’t pushed it to. I felt like I had nothing left, but I knew it wasn’t enough to get the win. That is what fueled me this whole offseason: remembering that feeling after the game, being upset, feeling like I let myself down, let my team down just not having that extra gear.

I really just focused on my body [this offseason] and my routine and just getting in the best shape I could physically, mentally, spiritually. [In the past] I haven’t spent a whole summer working on my body. I’ve always been in the gym two times a day, but never spent three or four days a week doing body work, conditioning and agility to prepare my body for the grind of the regular season and postseason.

This whole summer I was really locked-in. I built some good habits that I can carry on to this season. I got in a lot better shape. I’m just looking forward to getting back to that point, back to the postseason, and just seeing how much I improved in that aspect.

I thought about [the Game 7 loss] every day probably for two weeks. I watched the full game all the way back one time. And then I told myself I wasn’t going to watch it again. I’ve seen clips from it since then, obviously. But you know, I just rewatched it one good time. It probably took me four or five hours to watch the whole thing because I was pausing and rewinding a bunch. I watched it one good time all the way through, saw what I didn’t do well, saw what I did do well and just took it with a grain of salt. I wrote down stuff that I got to get better at. I just try to remember that feeling I had after the game and let that motivate me my whole offseason.

All I was thinking about was just coming up short. Last [season], the opportunity was there for us to possibly make a run. When we didn’t get it, obviously I was frustrated, but I think it’s just going to make me better in the future.

Seeing Jayson [Tatum] over the summer, that is one of the guys I am closest with in the NBA. He got a chip this past [season]. I did ask him based off my first experience in the playoffs, ‘What was it like getting all the way there [to the NBA Finals] and finishing the job? What did it take from you? What did it take from your team?’ And basically, he just said, ‘You get to a point in the postseason where it’s just you and the team. You’ve been doing the same routine every day for what probably eight or nine months at that point. And so, it’s easy to get tired of it. It’s easy to get bored with it, sloppy, offtrack, whatever it may be. But that’s when you have to laser focus even more. Once you get to that second round, Eastern Conference finals, the Finals, it just becomes even more and more important that you’re focused and locked-in as a group and as an individual.’

I remember feeling after my first-round series, just absolutely spent, physically and mentally. Him and their team having to go through two or three more of those series, I could only imagine just how tough that is. He gave me some good nuggets on that.

Me and Luka [Dončić], we spent a good amount of time together in China. He’s a very simple guy. I really admire the way he sees the game and how he reads the game. And I asked him how does he play so slow and so controlled. How does he make his reads?’ Luka just kind of looks at you and kind of shrug his shoulders and tell you he just reads the defense. It’s as simple as that. And honestly, some of the most talented players who ever played the game, if you ask them how they do what they do, sometimes that’s all they can say because that’s all they see. It’s just natural. He’s a guy that it just comes absolutely naturally. And there’s really no method to it for him, what he sees and how he feels.

And I can relate to that in a way to where instead of trying to overthink everything, as a player sometimes it’s best to just trust your talent and trust your instincts. And you could tell he does that on a nightly basis. So, I got a lot of respect for Luka.

I was home all summer, from the end of May to September. Getting back home to Seattle was great for me. It was just the best way for me to get grounded. I feel like my first two years in the NBA, getting drafted to finishing that playoff series against Cleveland, everything just happened so fast. I didn’t have a lot of time to ever get back home. I would go back to Seattle for maybe a week at a time, maybe two weeks, but not a lot of time at home around my family and friends.

You just start to feel when people haven’t seen you in a while. People you know that you love start missing you, texting you and wishing that they could see you, and it kind of wears on you after a while. I was really starting to feel that during my second season toward the end. Once it did get to the end, I really felt like I needed to get back home, get back around my family — not just my mom and dad, I see them a lot. But mainly some of my extended family that live in Seattle that I’m used to seeing a lot more when I am back home. I know how important it is not just for me, but for them to be around me, to see me.

Sometimes us athletes in general, we get caught up in this lifestyle. The season is really long. It’s a lot of traveling, moving around. You don’t have time for some of the things that’s important to you. And so, getting back home was just one of those things that brought me back down to earth. It helped me just relax and remember who I do it for, why I do it, you know, and just get to enjoy that time where you don’t feel like a celebrity, you don’t feel like people is pulling at you. It’s just natural, genuine love.

It was great, man. I spent basically 3½ months there just working out with my feet, working out, spend time with my family and friends. And by the time, you know, September, it was time for me to come back to Orlando, I felt like I was ready to leave Seattle. So that’s how I knew it was time well spent because I was, you know, ready to get back to work in Orlando.

It was super-important for me to do have my first [basketball] camp and have my first camp there. That was something that me and my team had talked about my first two years. They asked me if I wanted to have a camp and how I wanted to do it, where I wanted to do it. And I wanted my first camp to be in Seattle because that’s how I grew up. I just remember every summer looking forward to going to basketball camps. My parents always signed me up for camps. Aaron Brooks always had a camp, Jamal.

And so that was something I looked forward to and I still remember to this day, going to those camps. And so, I know from personal experience just how much it means to the kids to be around me, someone who they see on TV playing on a national stage. When a kid is able to see you up close and see you in the same gym that they’re in every day, it just makes their dreams a little more attainable. And when they’re able to realize, ‘Yo, Paulo grew up the same way I did walking the same hallways, playing in the same gyms, playing for the same coaches. Why can’t I be the next one?’ That’s how I thought when I was younger.

It’s the same trickle-down effect with the youth. They see me and come to my camp. And a couple kids, maybe not all, leave their feeling a little bit better about making their dream come true.

This team is a special group, man. I’m not just saying that. I feel like what we have is something that you don’t find always see in professional sports. Guys in the locker room really have each other’s back and really look after each other. I really want to see each and every person do well and succeed. Not only are we close together, but we’re also really talented and versatile as a team. Last [season] being in the playoffs and getting the Game 7, it didn’t do anything except motivate everyone to just better themselves over the summer, lock-in even more, work their ass off and just come back a little bit better than they were last year.

I think I’ve seen that from everybody. Everyone looks a little bit better. Everyone’s improved. Everyone is ready to go. We had a great camp. I’m just really excited to get out here and get after with the guys.

The Magic’s preseason game against the New Orleans Pelicans in Orlando on Oct. 11 was canceled due to Hurricane Milton. The Magic stayed an extra day in San Antonio after a preseason game due to the hurricane.

Stuff like that is always scary. Not necessarily for me as much because I don’t have family that lives here. I was not here when it hit. But it just makes me fear sometimes for the community and the people of Florida. We have a lot of fans and a lot of guys on the team who have families here, a lot of staff, coaches who all have families. That’s who I worry for in moments like that. I can only imagine what it’s like trying to do your job and play while worrying about your wife and kids at home during a hurricane. You’re not there to be with them or help them. I give a lot of credit to some of our coaches and some of our players who had to deal with that.

Luckily everybody was OK in our organization. I just kept saying prayers and trying to do little things to just support in any way I can. Obviously, it’s a time where everyone is in need and vulnerable. People are losing valuables, houses, belongings, power, whatever it may be. So, you’re trying to do whatever you can to help support.

The Magic opened the season with a 116-97 rout of the Miami Heat on Wednesday. Banchero had 33 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 made 3-pointers. Orlando hosts the Brooklyn Nets in their home debut Friday night.

I’m really looking forward to the home opener. Just getting in front of the fans. Myself and a lot of guys on the team have seen the love from the fans increase little by little every month, every year. You just see more fans pouring in and more fans coming in wearing jerseys, wearing blue, being loud. Last year, us making the playoffs, it really just sent a shock wave through the city.

You could tell just a lot of people start to get behind us and support us because it’s been a long time coming. A lot of people, a lot of fans have been waiting for the Magic to be good. There are a lot of challengers, contenders. There is a lot of a lot of excitement in the city right now. We’re just building and feeding off that. With our first game Friday at the crib, it’s going to be the start to a special year, especially at home.

I get my hair braided once every three weeks maybe, maybe once a month if I really let it ride out. I just got my hair braided [Sunday] because I wanted to be fresh for Game 1. This will probably last me the first eight games, maybe. And then it’ll be time to get braided again.

I’ve been growing my hair out. I cut my hair April before I went to college. I had a bunch of hair during COVID. I cut it all off super-short, and I told myself I would grow my hair out all the way through my [freshman year in] college [at Duke] to an early part of my career and then I’ll figure out what I want to do with it. So, I have just been sticking to that going on three years of growing it out. It’s the process to get it braided and whatnot. I think it looks good and it’s worth it. Shout-out to my braider in Orlando, Ashley. She always takes care of me. And then, my other braider based out of Cali, Barbie, she always takes care of me anywhere on the West Coast.

Banchero played high school football and his father was a wide receiver at the University of Washington. Minnesota Timberwolves star guard Anthony Edwards recently told ESPN he could consider playing in the NFL in the coming years.

I don’t know if Ant could play football. Ant probably thinks he could play football, but I don’t know. Ant would take one hit in the NFL, one real hit, and I think he would be rethinking that decision pretty quickly. I wouldn’t go try and in the NFL. I love football. I love watching it. I love analyzing it. My first love was football. But man, them dudes are too fast, too strong. For me to be out there, they would tear me apart.

ESPN senior NBA insider Shams Charania reported that Magic guard Jalen Suggs agreed to a five-year, $150 million contract extension during the filming of the diary.

Wow. Wow. Hold on, I got to just confirm. I got to look. Did he really? Ooh-wee! Hey, I got to call him. I’m so happy for him, man. I’m so happy. It’s a big deal. That’s life-changing stuff right there, man. And, just for him to get that relief and monkey off his back, and now just be able to go out here and lock-in and play.

Congrats to him and his family. I’ve known Jalen since high school, coming up, playing basketball, going to camps. Just to see his journey and all that and to know his family a little bit, I’m happy for him for sure.