Paolo Banchero, who starred at Seattle's O'Dea High School, starts NBA career in historic fashion

The 19-year-old is treating the NBA like it's the Seattle Metro League

Photo by Andy Buhler

Just a couple years ago, Paolo Banchero was causing nightmares for high school basketball coaches in the Seattle area. 

Now, after leading the Duke Blue Devils to the NCAA Final Four this spring, the 19-year-old is treating the NBA like it's the Seattle Metro League. 

Banchero, who was picked No. 1 overall by the Orlando Magic in this summer’s NBA draft, became the seventh player in league history to score at least 20 points in the first five games of his career.

The Seattle native joined an elite club of basketball legends who opened their professional careers in a similar fashion. Only Wilt Chamberlain (56), Elvin Hayes (10), Dominique Wilkins and Oscar Robertson (6) began with more 20-point outings than Banchero has so far, according to ESPN.

Paolo Banchero is the 7th player in NBA history to start his career with 5 straight 20-point games.

The only players to start with more than 5 are Wilt Chamberlain (56), Elvin Hayes (10), Grant Hill, Dominique Wilkins and Oscar Robertson (6).

Per @ESPNStatsInfo

— Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) October 27, 2022

On Oct. 19, Banchero posted 27 points, nine rebounds and five assists in his NBA debut, and he followed that up with a 20-point, 12-rebound performance the next time out. Entering his sixth game, the 6-foot-10 forward is averaging 24 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. 

While at O'Dea, Banchero led the Fighting Irish to a Class 3A state title as a sophomore and a state runner-up finish as a junior. With the pandemic delaying and shortening what would have been his senior season, the No. 1 recruit in the class of 2021 elected to forgo his senior season ahead of his enrollment at Duke. 

Banchero was named the Atlantic Coast Conference's freshman of the year after he averaged 17.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game in Mike Krzyzewski's final season as the Blue Devils' head coach, and in April he declared for the NBA draft.