Celtics Star Jayson Tatum 'Couldn't Be Happier' For Magic Rookie, Duke 'Brother' Paolo Banchero

Jayson Tatum and Paolo Banchero both played one season at Duke. But the pair share respect alongside their alma mater.

Jeremy Brener | Oct 23, 2022

Celtics Star Jayson Tatum 'Couldn't Be Happier' For Magic Rookie, Duke 'Brother' Paolo Banchero /

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ORLANDO - The Duke men's basketball brotherhood continues to prosper.

When Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero took the floor Saturday night against Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics, it was a matchup between two of Duke's recent top draftees.

Tatum, the No. 3 overall pick from the 2017 NBA Draft, has emerged into one of the league's premier players after one season at Duke. He proved that by scoring 40 points in Saturday's game against the Magic. But Banchero wasn't a slouch either. He scored 23 points on his own, becoming the first teenager in NBA history to score 20+ points in the first three games of his career.

Tatum explained after the game how excited he was for Banchero and his future.

"I couldn’t be happier for him or his family," Tatum said via USA Today's Cody Taylor. "I know how hard he works and how good of a person he is. [To be] that size and to be that height and that bulky, and essentially can do everything on the floor, he’s only obviously going to continue to get better. I was happy I finally got a chance to compete against him. Obviously, we’re going to have many more battles in the future."

Banchero has said in the past how he looks up to Tatum and shared how he approached the matchup during his first game against him.

"That is an elite player," Banchero said about Tatum. "That is a guy who you always got to have an eye on. When I was guarding him, just trying to make it hard for him. He is going to make shots so you can’t let that discourage you. You gotta step up on the next possession and guard him."

Banchero and the Magic play Tatum and the Celtics again in Boston on Dec. 16 and 18.

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Published Oct 23, 2022

JEREMY BRENER

Jeremy Brener is an editor, writer and social media manager for several Fan Nation websites. His work has also been featured in 247 Sports and SB Nation as a writer and podcaster. Brener has been with Fan Nation since 2021. Brener grew up in Houston, going to Astros, Rockets and Texans games as a kid. He moved to Orlando in 2016 to go to college and pursue a degree. He hosts "The Dream Take" podcast covering the Rockets, which has produced over 350 episodes since March 2020. Brener graduated in May 2020 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism minoring in Sport Business Management. While at UCF, Brener worked for the school's newspaper NSM.today and "Hitting the Field," a student-run sports talk show and network. He was the executive producer for "Hitting the Field" from 2019-20. During his professional career, Brener has covered a number of major sporting events including the Pro Bowl, March Madness and several NBA and NFL games. As a fan, Brener has been to the 2005 World Series, 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 NCAA National Championship between the Villanova Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels. Now, Brener still resides in the Central Florida area and enjoys writing, watching TV, hanging out with friends and going to the gym. Brener can be followed on Twitter @JeremyBrener. For more inquiries, please email jeremybrenerchs@gmail.com.