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Paolo Banchero of the Orlando Magic has just been named the 2022-23 NBA Rookie of the Year after impressively dominating his fellow rookies. Banchero is the third player to play for the Magic to win the ROTY award, following Mike Miller in 2000-01 and Shaquille O'Neal in 1992-93.
The Magic forward averaged 20.0 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.7 assists. He started off strong and was almost an All-Star for his stellar performances. He started his first season with six straight games of 20 or more points.
The NBA Rookie of the Year race was almost a given to Banchero, but other players from his class had incredible performances as well. Jalen Williams of the OKC Thunder and Walker Kessler of the Utah Jazz were the other finalists for the award.
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Paolo Banchero shared how he was fixated on winning the Rookie of the Year award for the Magic
When Paolo Banchero was drafted by the Magic with the first pick back in 2022, a ton of people had already placed a high ceiling for the young forward. Many wanted to see him dominate the league early on and capture the Rookie of the Year Award. Luckily, he's talented enough to live up to the hype.
When he was announced the winner of the award, the TNT crew had a chance to interview Banchero. Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, Charles Barkley and Kenny "The Jet" Smith had a chance to share a moment with the Magic rookie.
"She taught me a lot of lessons. Some hard ones, but she always just stressed the fundamentals first, putting those first. We worked on a lot of boring stuff growing up. Drop steps, using the backboard, using your left hand, and just putting the work first. That was one thing she made sure I was doing was being active and working on my game and everything else is gone take care of itself." Banchero said when asked about what his mother taught him growing up.
"I definitely did. I remember when I first got drafted my agent, Mike Miller, who also won Rookie of the Year for the Magic, he looked at me and he asked me if I was going to be Rookie of the Year and I confidently said yes. It was a goal I've always had, something I had my eye on the second I got drafted."
The Magic has a ton of expectations with Banchero as he enters the 2023-24 campaign as an experienced ball player.
Guess the Lakers players!
