Paolo Banchero diary: The position we’re in, every game matters

ORLANDO – While giving a tour of the Orlando Magic’s practice facility on March 29, forward Paolo Banchero stopped by head coach Jamahl Mosley’s second floor office overlooking two basketball courts. Before Banchero walked out, Mosley offered some mammoth words of respect and confidence to his star forward who has been playing at an elite level of late that proved worthy of an NBA honor.

“There is not much that needs to be said that he is not doing right now,” Mosley said. “He is showing out. Showing what he needs to be doing. Showing what class he belongs in. He is special not just on the dang court, but off the court as well. That is who he is. That is what he represents.

“He is going to be doing it for a long dang time in this league. A problem. I don’t know if I can say it early on, but he is going to be an MVP candidate sooner [rather than] later, I promise you that.”

After walking around the office with nervous energy as Mosley sang his praises, Banchero replied, “Real talk.”

Banchero was named the NBA’s Eastern Conference Player of the Week on Monday for the period ending Mar. 30, 2025. During four games last week, the 2024 NBA All-Star averaged 30.3 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.3 blocks in 35.6 minutes per game while leading the Magic to a 3-1 record. He has scored 20 or more points in 17 consecutive games, as well as 30 or more points in five straight outings from Mar. 19-27, tied for the fourth-longest streak of 30-plus point games in franchise history.

Even so, the Magic’s playoff hopes appear to be riding on success during the play-in tournament. Orlando (37-40) made the postseason last season, but key injuries all season long, being thin at point guard and being the NBA’s worst 3-point shooting team have derailed the possibility of clinching a playoff berth as one of the East’s top six teams. The Magic entered Wednesday as the East’s eighth-seeded team with six games left.

“It’s really getting close to the end. The position we’re in, every game matters to put ourselves in the best position possible for the postseason,” Banchero said. “So, some teams that are at the top or the bottom [of the standings] are resting guys. But we’re the opposite. We’re trying to get every game, doing whatever we can right now.

“I would say the pressure is high. A couple losses, you can be in the 10 [seed]. A couple wins, you can be in seven, maybe six. So, it’s a lot of pressure, but honestly it’s the fun part of the season. Towards the end, you get to start playing for something, which I don’t think anyone on the team is taking for granted. So, everyone’s looking forward to the opportunity.”

During the 2024-25 NBA season, Banchero is 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, Phoenix Suns guard Bradley Beal, have participated in diaries.

Below is Banchero’s sixth diary of the season, with the latest taking place at the Magic’s practice facility after practice on March 28. In the latest edition, the former Duke star talks about the Magic’s possible play-in positioning and potentially playing the Cleveland Cavaliers or Boston Celtics in the first round, projected 2025 No. 1 NBA draft pick Cooper Flagg and Duke in the Final Four, his younger brother and Seattle O’Dea High School star wide receiver Giulio Banchero’s college football recruiting, Seattle Mariners centerfielder Julio Rodriguez and much more.

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My mind is kind of moving towards the play-in. Obviously, that’s not where you want to be, but that’s our reality. So, we will likely end up there, but who knows? But if we do end up there, I’ll be excited, ready to play, ready to get a win. So, it’s not something I’m scared of, or really not ready for, or not wanting to do. If it ends up that way, I’ll be excited, ready to go compete.

The Atlanta Hawks, that is a team myself and my teammates would say we’re very familiar with. We play them four times a year, always have had close games with them since I first got to the league. So, I kind of know what they’re about and just the challenge that they present. At the end of the [regular] season, it’s going to be a little bit of a mini-series with us playing them twice to finish the year out and then us likely seeing them in the play-in. It’s going to be [possibly] three tough games that both teams are going to be trying to win. So, I’m excited for it because it’s a unique challenge playing against them, just the way they play…

With the position we’re in and the season starting to near its end, you start peeping the standards and looking at where you’re at. You’re looking at who you may match up with in the postseason. And with us being the seven-eight [seed] between there, hopefully staying there, it’s either going to be Boston or Cleveland [in the first round of the playoffs]. Those are the top two seeds and neither one of them will be caught by the end of the [regular] season. So, those are pretty much locked in.

So, you play out both scenarios in your head of what that matchup would look like. Either a rematch with Cleveland, who we saw last year [in the playoffs], or see us in Boston, the defending champs. However it ends up, I’ll be excited for the challenge, and soon we’ll find out. So, I’m just getting mentally ready for whatever it is, whatever happens — being mentally prepared, physically ready, just for the series because both of those teams present a great challenge — one being the defending champs and then the other one being probably the best team in the NBA this year in the regular season.

(Note: Banchero played for Duke during the 2022 NCAA Final Four. No. 2 seed Duke lost to its rival No. 8 seed North Carolina 81-77 in the national semifinals. It was also the last game for legendary Duke head coach Mike “Coach K” Krzyzewski.)

When I watch the NCAA tournament [now], I just remember the excitement of being in the tournament, ‘Selection Sunday,’ to the first weekend, then advancing from there. It was just such a great spectacle with all the different teams, especially that first weekend. You got so many different teams and fan bases in that one spot, in that one arena. And it’s just a unique thing. It’s kind of like an AAU tournament almost, but in college.

So, it’s pretty dope just seeing the atmosphere. I remember watching the games before and after ours [at Duke] and just really enjoying it and taking it all in, and watching it on TV, it always gives me the same feeling. Ever since I was a kid, I always loved watching the tournament. I feel like I don’t get to catch as much college ball as much now playing in the NBA, having such a busy schedule, but I’ve definitely been locked in for this NCAA tournament and it’s been pretty entertaining so far.

The [2022] Final Four, for me, it was a little bittersweet. But at the end of the day, it was a once in a lifetime experience. Playing in front of 75,000 people was something that I honestly never thought would happen. I got to go to a Final Four in 2019. I was sitting way up in the 300 level. Just sitting there watching that Final Four, I remember thinking if I would ever get here and just wanting to be there and wondering what it felt like to be on that court in front of all those people. For me to get to experience that and get to play in one of the biggest games in college basketball history, it was an awesome experience I’ll never forget.

It was a huge game. Obviously we didn’t win, so that sucks. I remember just the atmosphere of the game. How intense it was. Just the momentum swings in that game. Everything feels so heavy in a game like that. And it’s just the most-high pressure situations. Every single possession is high pressure and it means something. And I just remember really getting lost in the game and just really enjoying it. Obviously, didn’t win, But we really had a chance. We really should have won, in my opinion. But it just didn’t go our way. But I’m still, thankful I got to experience it. That was a dream that I had that I actually got to live out, so I was awesome.

I would just tell whoever was asking [about playing in the Final Four], you got to just get lost in the game. There’s going to be a lot of butterflies before just everything building up to it. The open practice. The media, All the before stuff. You got to do cameras and intro videos and all that. It is all an experience and it’s all fun to do with your teammates and experience it. But once the game comes, that’s when it sets in. You run out there for warmups, the court is all elevated super high up. You got to take the stairs and get on the court. So, it’s just got a different feeling to it…

I remember ‘Coach K’ told us, ‘When you get out there, at some point, everyone take 30 seconds to a minute to just take in and look at the whole crowd.’ So, I remember during warmups just doing a 360 and looking at all the people that was there. And it was amazing. Couldn’t even see. It looked like little dots. People was all over the place. And so, it was amazing.

I got to present Cooper with his [2024] Gatorade National Player of the Year award, which was a cool experience for me. Just Gatorade allowing me to do that and get to go up there to Montverde [Academy] and it was a little bit of a surprise. We walked in after one of their practices and his whole family was there and everything. So, that was really cool just to deliver that to him.

And he’s a cool kid, man. I remember meeting his family. And his mom was very adamant about me telling him what he needs to do in college and to take the next step. And I just remember telling him, ‘As soon as you get to campus, just go be the best player. Go assert yourself as the best player on the team. Go assert yourself as the leader of the team and the guys will follow.’ And he’s clearly done that…

Duke’s going to win the whole thing because they have the best player in the tournament and they have the best overall team as well. Obviously, Cooper is by far the best player, but their team is also amazing. They have nine to 10 guys that they can put out there and get productive minutes from, which is unheard of in college, and a lot of them are freshmen. I’ve been watching them and I’ve really been impressed with just some of the supporting guys on the team, how well they play together, and how well [Duke head coach Jon] Scheyer has guys bought in to play in their role and running his stuff. I feel like they’re really together this year.

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I received the [2025] Rich and Helen DeVos Community Assist Award. And that was just great to be recognized for some of the stuff I’ve done just with the kids and the youth in the communities in Seattle and Orlando. And I really didn’t expect to win it. But I was honored when I did just because that was my first time being recognized for something other than basketball — being recognized for doing good in the community, helping the kids. It’s something that I definitely don’t take lightly.

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My little brother, he’s receiver at (Seattle) O’Dea High School and he just finished junior season. They won state championship for the first time since I won a state championship in 2017. He is his own being. I’m sure he’s handling [college football recruiting] with great care. I just talk to him about other stuff, but from what I do know, his recruiting process is going pretty well right now. He is just hearing from schools. He’s working hard. He still got another year of high school. So, in football usually you don’t start getting looked at unless you’re a five-, four-star guy, which he’s not yet. You don’t start getting offers and stuff until your senior year.

So, for him to be able to get a couple offers, a couple looks in his junior season, it’s only just going to help him build his momentum and only get better and get more notoriety for his senior year. So, I’m excited about it just because I always loved football, and it makes me happy that I have a sibling that’s trying to pursue football at a high level because I love the sport. He’s a natural. He didn’t really play growing up. So, when he got to high school and started playing, I hadn’t really seen him play, so, I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t really know what it would look like. And I’ll say that I’ve been impressed with some of the stuff he’s been able to do in his high school career. I definitely can say he has natural talent and ability, which doesn’t surprise me, honestly. It did at first, but it kind of makes sense.

I’m super proud of Lio and everything he’s been able to do. Honestly, him picking football up so late in his life and just kind of taking off, it’s impressive. I don’t know if I could have done something like that, not having played for my whole life in early years and then just kind of becoming good at it, which is a big testament to him and how hard he’s worked in the last few years. And I’m one of his biggest fans. I don’t come to a lot of games. I went to the first game of the year of his junior year and the first offensive possession he had a 70-yard touchdown. So, he’s got some stuff to him.

I was watching his state semifinal game where he caught the game-winning Hail Mary. I was in New York watching that on my phone and I literally couldn’t stop yelling for five minutes. I was running around; I get super excited. I wish I could come to more games and be there yelling, talking mess for him. I can’t come to a lot, but I’ll for sure be there start of the senior season. I’ll be at those first couple games and when he goes to college.

I’m not going to put that much expectations on them guys, but the Seattle Mariners, as you can see, I got the [Mariners] shirt on. Opening Day was [March 26]. We got the W against the [San Diego] Padres. I’ve been paying more attention to the Mariners. Honestly, they weren’t very good when I was growing up. They never made the playoffs when I was growing up, so I didn’t pay much attention. But I would say three years ago when they drafted Julio Rodriguez and then they made the playoffs that next season, I really started to pay attention.

I got to meet Julio a couple years ago. [My career and his] are kind of on the same line in terms of years we started and me being a Rookie of the Year, him being a Rookie of the Year. So, he’s a guy that I talk to frequently. He’s come to a couple games in Orlando to watch me play. And then I always try to go to a bunch of Mariners games in the summertime. He’s really embraced Seattle. He’s become cool with not just me, but a few other notable guys around the city, hoopers and stuff like that.

He’s really embraced the city, which is dope to see a star like that embrace the city of Seattle. I’ve been keeping up with him this year. [The Mariners] are going to get back to the playoffs; Julio, he’s going to have another breakout season and lead us to the playoffs. So, I’m excited to watch the guys and I’m excited to come to some games down there at T-Mobile Park in the summertime.

I wasn’t a star in baseball because I was a star in track and field. So, I had three sports that I was a star at. And I was like, ‘You know what? If I’m a star at four, then they really going to hate me.’ So, I had to be bad at something. Baseball I really wasn’t the best at. But I think the more I watch it as I get older, the more I like it. One of the most entertaining things for me to watch in sports is playoff baseball. Playoff baseball is some of the best TV you can get. So, I’ve kind of grown to like baseball even though that wasn’t my thing. I did play for a few years, but it wasn’t my main sport for sure.