Orlando Magic rookie Paolo Banchero pulled up to the seventh annual “Zeke-End” pro-am basketball tournament over the weekend and may have found himself involved in a new beef afterward.
The event is hosted by two-time NBA All-Star Isaiah Thomas, and it often features several notable players, including Thomas himself. Atlanta Hawks guard Dejounte Murray was also among the players that competed in Tacoma, Washington.
Banchero and Murray, who are both from Seattle, were matched up against each other and took turns handling the scoring duties for their teams. The two appeared to be having fun in the game, but the situation then escalated to the next level seemingly out of nowhere.
Things started to get a bit chippy early after Banchero made a play on the ball down in the paint. Murray fell to the ground and proceeded to get up and walk over toward Banchero. He then bumped into Banchero with the No. 1 pick seemingly unfazed by the gesture.
Paolo is so strong that he goes up for the ball and unintentionally makes Dejounte Murray bust his ass on the floor.
Paolo doesn't even realize he's mad when Murray uses his strength to push Paolo back.
Paolo stops his momentum, hugs him, and pats him on the belly lol. pic.twitter.com/NttfjFy1RG
— WeltGawd (@WeltGawd) August 8, 2022
The highlight of the game came when Banchero was guarding Murray on defense. Murray got Banchero up in the air and then tossed the ball off of the backboard to himself and jammed in a one-handed slam that had the crowd on its feet.
Paolo Banchero getting an early welcome-to-the-league moment from @DejounteMurray 😅
(via @Ballislife) pic.twitter.com/wzzcL04iwn
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 8, 2022
Murray was fired up the rest of the game following that jam and often took the assignment of guarding Banchero on defense. Banchero had some nice finishes over Murray, none of which were as emphatic as that one-handed slam, though.
Paolo (@Pp_doesit) sonned him all game if it was coming this easy. https://t.co/1C6oAQDdCy pic.twitter.com/8LWitpaOxD
— The Lando (@TheLando__) August 8, 2022
Once the game was over, Murray took to Instagram to post a video of his dunk on his reels. Banchero caught wind of it and then offered up a response of his own, which resulted in the two going back and forth a bit on their stories.
With the basketball world at a standstill at the height of the offseason, the apparent beef between Banchero and Murray took over social media with several fans weighing in.
We have compiled some of the best reactions to the beef situation.