'Constant Belief' Propels Magic PF Paolo Banchero to All-Star Game

Paolo Banchero is the first Orlando Magic player in five years to make the All-Star Game.

For the first time since Nikola Vučević in 2019, the Orlando Magic will have an All-Star. Only eight Orlando players have ever participated in the All-Star game, and Paolo Banchero will become the ninth this weekend. 

Banchero was drafted first overall in 2022 and was immediately heralded as the next great Orlando player, joining Penny Hardaway, Dwight Howard, and Shaquille O'Neal. Unlike those players, who had limited help during their Orlando tenure, the Magic under Banchero already have an elite supporting squad.

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Next season, expect Banchero to be joined by Franz Wagner in the All-Star game. The last time multiple Magic players were selected was at the 2009 event. 

Seeing Banchero blossom from Rookie of the Year to one of the league's best players in such a short amount of time brings optimism to all parts of the organization. While Orlando's development of Banchero has been paramount, his own goals have propelled him as well. 

“I mean just for our coaching staff, they do such a great job with him: communicating with him, helping him grow, learning the game, understanding the game, but for him and his journey I think it’s just something special," coach Jamahl Mosley said. "What he said he was going to do as a rookie, he did. What he said he was going to do in his second season, he’s done."

While the Magic are all-in on Banchero and his improvement, it starts with himself, and the coaching staff offers secondary help. "It just goes to the work that he puts in, the work that the coaches put in with him, and the constant belief that he has in himself, and his teammates have in him," Mosley continued. "I think it says so much about him, the organization, and the belief that we have in who he is.”

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With two stars on the roster and an excellent cast around them, expect Orlando's development to become the blueprint for the league moving forward when it comes to rebuilding: find a star in the draft and add young talent who elevate him, and the team reaps the benefits.