“Paolo Banchero, Guys Are Going to Come at You”: Jayson Tatum’s Raw Advice to the Orlando Magic #1 Pick

Several pundits and basketball analysts were surprised when the Orlando Magic drafted Paolo Banchero with their #1 pick in the 2022 draft. Contrary to what many naysayers thought, the Italian-American has been a huge asset for the Florida-based franchise.

In fact, in only his first few games, Banchero has taken on as the leader with aspirations of helping the Magic franchise make their 3^rd postseason appearance since 2013.

So far, even though Jamahl Mosley’s boys are placed only a 13^th in the East, Paolo has been doing a pretty phenomenal job individually. Having played 24 games, the rookie has been averaging a staggering 22 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game.

Also Read: Paolo Banchero Gets Eerily Similar to Michael Jordan While Explaining Intentions in NBA

Paolo Banchero reveals the advice Jayson Tatum gave him

Jayson Tatum has, somewhat, been in the same shoes as the Magic forward. Being a lottery pick from the Duke Blue Devil, JT had his own fair share of expectations to live up to.

Now, 6 years after his arrival to the league, it is pretty safe to say that Tatum has superseded all the expectations set for him.

Being a 3-time All-Star, 2-time All-NBA member, and having made a trip to the NBA Finals already, the Celtics superstar is more than capable to dish out some advice to the next generation. And that is exactly what the 6-foot-8 forward has been doing.

Recently, Paolo revealed the unfiltered advice Jayson gave him. Also stating what learnings he took from Tatum’s advice, the 20-year-old disclosed:

“He told me, ‘Guys are going to come at you’.”

“I think that’s been one of the biggest things I’ve seen and had to realize. Being a rookie and being the way I am, sometimes I’m not thinking like that, that I have this target. But that’s the case. When I play against good players or good teams they kind of have a little bit of extra motivation to try to stop me or make it hard for me. That’s something Jayson told me right away, before I even got to the NBA. It’s helped a lot.”

“Been following Jayson Tatum since he was in high school”: Banchero

Banchero considers himself lucky enough to get mentorship from someone whose game he has been so keenly analyzing for a long time now.

Talking about his admiration for his fellow Blue Devil, Banchero said:

“I’ve been following him since he was in high school, watched him at Duke, and he’s at the top of his game right now. He just shows that work he’s put in and that it doesn’t happen overnight. He goes through ups and downs, too, and it’s just motivating for me.”

With Jayson not available for the recent-most Magic-Celtics clash, Paolo had a pretty incredible outing. Scoring 31 points, the rookie led the Magic to a huge 95-92 win.

Definitely, a Paolo-Jayson matchup will be an entertaining duel, to say the least.

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