No. 1 pick Paolo Banchero reacts to winning Rookie of the Year

Banchero was honored as the Rookie of the Year on Wednesday at the Magic practice facility.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Long before becoming the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft by the Orlando Magic, Paolo Banchero had a lengthy list of goals.

He crossed one of them off that list this week.

Banchero was named the 2022-23 NBA Rookie of the Year on Tuesday, receiving 98 of 100 first-place votes from a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. He finished with 494 of a possible 500 points in the final voting, topping the 241 points Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams received. Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler finished third with 114 points.

Banchero was viewed as the front-runner to win after averaging 20 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 72 games. He led the rookie class in a number of categories, including scoring, field goals per game (6.7), free throws (5.5) and 30-point games (6). He is the sixth rookie in the last 50 seasons to average at least 20 points, six rebounds and three assists.

“This award means a lot to me,” Banchero said Wednesday at a press conference at the team practice facility. “Toward the end of my high school career, I started to kind of put my eye on the NBA and I made a lot of goals I wanted to achieve and Rookie of the Year was one of them. Coming in and getting drafted, it was kind of the first one I had on my list. I tried not to think about it, just tried to play every game to win and put the team and winning first and everything I knew was going to take care of itself.”

Banchero became the third rookie in team history to be honored as Rookie of the Year, joining Shaquille O’Neal (1992-93) and his agent, Mike Miller (2000-01). O’Neal announced Banchero as the winner of the award Tuesday on “NBA on TNT” and Miller was among those on hand to celebrate the accomplishment by his client.

The two became close in recent memory and Banchero eventually settled on Miller and LIFT Sports Management to represent him. Miller also serves as a trainer for Banchero after spending 17 years in the league, including three seasons in Orlando.

Miller was proud of Banchero after seeing him work on and off the court.

He just wants to show up and (work). We trained this morning. It is every morning for him. The most consistent thing with him is the work. On top of that being 6-foot-10 and 260 pounds, and playing like a guard, that shows why. He is here to get better.

Banchero kicked off his rookie campaign with a historic start.

He became the third No. 1 pick since the 1969-70 season to record at least 25 points, five rebounds and five assists in a debut, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and LeBron James. He had the most 20-point games to start a career since Grant Hill during the 1994-95 season (6) and continued that success throughout the year, producing 40 20-point games.

The former Duke All-American earned the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month honor four times, tying O’Neal for the most in franchise history. He continued to pace the rookie class in scoring each month and finished the season as the leading scorer on the team.

Banchero knew from the opener that he could have a productive year.

I think from Game 1, I felt that I belonged and I could be successful. Throughout the season, there were a lot of ups and downs and peaks and valleys, and I just give credit to coach (Jamahl) Mosley and my teammates for sticking with me and trusting in me when I was going through those tough times and tough stretches to just pump up the encouragement and supportive energy.

The Magic started 5-20 as the group dealt with injuries to key players, including Markelle Fultz, Cole Anthony, Wendell Carter Jr. and even Banchero. Players were forced to pick up the slack, and Banchero stepped up without hesitation.

Mosley was impressed with him early on this year.

We started the year off with injuries so he was running the point, essentially. Watching his ability to adjust as the game went on but not do it in a selfish way, he did it for whatever was necessary for the team. We talk about it: That is his character.

He wants to do whatever it takes to win and then as guys came back, he started to adjust and never wavered. That is such a special quality to have to be able to adjust to whatever is happening within a team and try and find a way to get the win no matter what happened.

With Banchero in the fold, the Magic posted a 12-game improvement from last season and were alive in the play-in group of contenders until the last week of the season. They believe the future is bright in Orlando, and all can see the next goal on the horizon.

“It is always fun to write down goals and fantasize about them but at the end of the day, you’ve got to get to work,” Banchero said. “I think, next year, is playoffs or bust for me and everyone. The way we’ve been talking to each other, that is all we’re worried about.”

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