Orlando Magic player Paolo Banchero has been named as the NBA Rookie of the Year for 2023.
Banchero was given the league’s top honor for rookies during Tuesday night’s broadcast of Inside the NBA, which aired on Turner Network Television at 7 p.m. Banchero earned 98 out of a possible 100 first place votes for the award.
Surrounded by his mother, sister, friends from home and Magic staff, Banchero said becoming Rookie of the Year was a goal he always had his “eye on,” crediting lessons learned from his mother and coaches. Banchero’s mother, Rhonda, was a professional basketball player in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), playing for the Sacramento Monarchs for multiple seasons.
Banchero played his college basketball at Duke University, which recently competed in the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament at Amway Center in Orlando. When asked about adversity in his rookie season, Banchero cited a stretch in which he struggled.
“I think the hardest part for me was really going through a rough stretch in the middle of the year, where I was struggling a lot, up and down games. And just having to get through it. It last for about a month and I was just frustrated,” said Banchero.
Banchero said he had a lot of self-talk and conversations with coaches to try and “figure out how” how he could be a better player. He says he wants to get “better in every way he can” during the offseason, adding that he hopes to “get in better shape” and improve his offensive and defensive skills.
When asked about team success, Banchero was enthusiastic and forward-looking for the NBA’s third-youngest team.
“As a team, we gotta come in and just be more locked in, in the offseason. Get together, and build up the chemistry. Obviously, we had a great finish to the year, where, you know, we kinda put ourselves on the map a little bit across the league,” said Banchero.
Banchero is the third Magic player to be named Rookie of the Year, joining his agent, Mike Miller who won the award in 2001, and Shaquille O’Neal, who won it in 1993. Miller is currently employed as Banchero’s agent.
During an interview on JJ Redick’s podcast, Old Man and the Three, earlier this year, Banchero detailed the night he was selected first overall during the NBA draft by the Magic, crediting Miller with knowing before the announcement.