PAOLO BANCHERO IS AN ALL-STAR!!! ORLANDO MAGIC POD SQUAD PRESENTED BY STARRY

PAOLO BANCHERO IS AN ALL-STAR!!! ORLANDO MAGIC POD SQUAD PRESENTED BY STARRY

And welcome everyone to a special Allstar edition of magic pod squad presented by star Dante marelli Jeff Turner George galante and the latest Orlando Magic Allstar Paulo ban Caro kind enough to join us yes sir congratulations P ninth Allstar in Orlando Magic history the 25th selection

Congrats man I know you just found out a matter of moments ago what are the emotions how does it feel to be an Allstar my man uh is a great accomplishment man I’m happy that it happened and uh just glad I was around the team and and everybody here

Um we all got to experience it together it was a a lot of emotion sitting there just waiting it was it was more suspenseful than I thought but I just enjoyed it and was glad that we all was here to experience it together you mean you didn’t you didn’t like the fact that

You were the seventh guy of seven to Jo I said I had a feeling I was going to be the last guy chosen but I’m just glad I got my name call man it feels good yeah well take us through it you were at practice you were on a bus you

Were racing back to the hotel you just got to the room in time didn’t you to see the selection yeah yeah they had uh Joel had it up on his phone at the gym he was watching it and then we we had luckily we had a short drive from the gym to the

Hotel and we were kind of all scrambling to find one room to go in and luck conference room with a TV and they uh they turned it on so everybody got to watch what was the celebration like Pao you look like you’ve got a your your your shirt’s a little damp it looks

Like with some water going around uh guys gave me a a water water shower man so it was a it was fun man everybody just showed a lot of love and support and uh I you know shook everybody up hug hugged everybody and just told them you

Know thank you and how much I appreciate them think back to when you were a kid Paulo right you’re you started playing basketball right I know your mom’s an accomplished basketball player but was this the goal I know you said it was a goal to win rookie of the year once you

Got the number one pick you check that you check off that box I gotta think every kid that grows up playing basketball dreams of being an All-Star one day right was that part of the goal yeah for sure I mean um I think it was it didn’t become a goal till maybe

Like high school or college but it was always a dream you know you always watch the allstar game you know every year and you just dream you know it seems impossible at first but um you know as you get older get better you know you you accomplish more goals leading up to

It then it starts to become more real and so you know once I got to the NBA I think is when um I really wanted to just lock in and one you know start off a rookie of the year and then you know I didn’t know if it was going to be year

Two or year three but definitely you know be Allstar was was on the on the um Mo’s over there cheering me on but uh as he should yeah go ahead I was G I was going to ask you you know you got you know you were

Fourth in the voting by your peers by the players that’s a huge honor but to be selected by the coaches who you know you can’t fool coaches right like they they see it every day they’re preparing for you and things what how does that feel I know you were proud to be fourth

You know from your peers but from the coaches that’s a pretty big honor as well yeah for sure I mean you know like you said the the coaches aren’t going to lie you know they’re not going to uh have any agendas you know they’re just

Calling it how they see it and uh you know it means a lot for them being the the opposition most of the time is uh speaks to just you know how how hard I try and play every night and um just effort I try and put forward you know I

Try and get my best every game and um yeah man I’m just glad that I’ve earned the respect of you know not only my peers but um the coaches as well I think it’s it’s huge for me um you know just as a confidence booster and just trying

To make my name and and uh earn my respect in the NBA H what was the the whole day like for you though today because I I I can tell you that I had many conversations I I I talked to Mike a couple times I talked to Joel I talked to these guys

Here I what and just I was I was nervous for you all day and and Mike actually said to me I’ll share it with you he may have said it to you he goes it feels like draft night all over again because I don’t know what’s going to happen and

I don’t like it so what was it like for you just all day not just watching it just all day long for you yeah yeah Mike Mike actually woke me up with a call and and he said exactly that word for word you know I was just

Getting up you know we played last night so uh we had we left San Antonio this morning so I was just getting up and uh he called me and said the same thing like man it feels like draft day I’m nervous and I was just I started

Laughing I thought that was funny um but honestly it was a regular day man just a regular travel day and I knew that it was coming obviously tonight and um you know but I really I really wasn’t trying to think about it obviously I was confident that you know my chances were

Good but you never know so uh I was just looking forward to to it uh being announced B what does this mean to we saw your mom last night and saying Antonio obviously she’s super proud of you and we’ve seen your dad Mario a number of times you haven’t even had a

Chance to go through all the messages you’re getting I know your phone your phone is blowing up but what do you what does this mean to your folks your family your friends things like that oh it means a lot to them for sure just because they’ve been there with me

The whole journey um they’ve been there with the good and the bad the ups and the downs and uh you know they’ve just put in you know there’s been a lot of people that’s helped me along the way way that you know deserve a lot of credit for helping me just become the

The man I am today and the player I am today so you know I’m sure all those people are proud and I’ll you know be sure to tell all them thank you and how much I appreciate them you know guys I’m looking at this and and you know Paulo you know this but

For magic history you’re joining Shaq Penny Tracy McGrady Dwight Howard Grant Hill I mean these are some of the best to ever play the game and now you had Pao B car into that mix I mean it’s it’s it’s just the sense of Pride I’m sure is

Got to be uh pretty pretty overwhelming at times too yeah yeah I mean you know coming in I know remember when I got drafted you know um I remember seeing something when I right when I got picked just of all the previous magic number one picks and

I remember looking at it like you know I got a lot to I got a lot of work to do you know all those guys were uh Legends like you said and so just to you know be be in the same you know senten and as those guys is a huge honor

And you know those guys put on for Orlando and gave it their raw and I plan on doing the same thing so it’s it’s definitely an honor though man I don’t take it for granted you know those are all the Legends that’s came before me and um they put in a lot of

Work it doesn’t happen without your play Paulo right so okay that’s great you get nominated but you have to play well and you have to earn everybody’s respect and you’ve done that and especially these if you’ve done it all season but the last 25 2 six games especially with people in

And out of the lineup kind of take us through your mindset and how you’ve kind of carried every carried this team and kept everything a float here the last 25 26 games yeah I think it’s just been a mindset of you know trying to bring my best foot forward every single day you

Know practice or or game um you know that’s just been my biggest thing you know obviously we we have injuries and you know deal with different stuff throughout the season but you know as as a team you know we want to stick together and then for myself just trying

To be as consistent as I can and um with my play with my attitude um with my focus and uh you know hoping that it rubs off on everyone else and then you know when I do slip up you know those guys are there to you know pick me up

And hold me accountable so it’s a it’s a team environment and it’s a you know just a overall team thing where we all got to hold each other to a standard and um I think just players and coaches you know no matter who’s in the lineup who’s

Out the lineup hold each other to that standard and U that’s that’s helped us I get asked like all the time you know what has uh impress me about you um you know especially over the month of January when we you know we’ve had so many you know the injuries and so many

Close games and games didn’t go our way and my number one thing is that the thing I’ve impressed with for someone second year in the league as young as you are just the way you handle adversity you never seem to get that frustrated now I’m guessing maybe inside

You get a little frustrated sometimes but you don’t show it um is is that something you consciously think about or you’re just being a leader and trying to put on the best SP for your team no it’s something I think about all the time you know um you know I think

Just it’s really came from the feedback from my teammates and coaches you know that just how much um my energy and my attitude rubs off on you know everyone else and how how important it is you know so when when they come and tell me

That then me I want to be the best teamate I can be and I want the best for the team so I got to make sure that my attitude um is always up to par and that I’m staying poised you know whether it’s a a tough game or you know a late game

Situation like just having that confidence in myself and also in my teammates and coaches and and that confidence running through everyone else else I think has been huge and I think that’s been a big area of growth from from last year to this year for me and

The team is just um the confidence we have in each other and the confidence I have in myself I think just as a leader and a player has has really grown a lot so um yeah paa how much does the the team success I mean we we’ve always

Preached that you know when the team wins everybody gets to eat isn’t this proof I mean if if the magic were if we were 20 and 27 you know know I I don’t know necessarily if we’re if we’re sitting here even if your numbers are great but because the team is having

Success I mean that that helps everybody along yeah exactly um it’s always been like that and uh that’s something that you know we preach you know coach preaches it um everyone preaches it throughout the locker room is just you know put the team first and you know as

Long as we’re having success you know everyone’s going to get what they deserve and uh you know this is just the tip of the iceberg I think with our team and where we’re where we’re going to be able to go in the future and uh you know

We got a lot of guys who got a lot you know that they want to accomplish and that they’re going to accomplish so you know it’s not just me you know we got a lot of guys that um are are ready and uh are going to keep you know elevating as

We Elevate as a team all right last thing Paulo and then we want you to celebrate we want you to get there and get back to all these messages right but uh every we we try to bring it up as much as we can there’s every statistic and Metric you can look

At but fourth quarter scoring clutch points I mean you’re you’re you’re one of the top in the NBA in all those categories but it but it accelerates even more your top four and fourth quarter points on the road what what is it about you on the road that atmosphere

In the fourth quarter you’re a dog man you want the basketball and you wanna you want to send everybody home upset I love that mentality kind of take us through how how much you enjoy and Thrive off of that yeah I think just you

Know being on the the road in the NBA uh you know it’s hard and uh you know it’s really just you and the guys and everyone that you you know came to this city with um you guys are all you got and so I think kind of taking that

Mentality um is is important and then just for me um I think in the fourth quarter um in the late game situations you know I kind of treat that almost as like another game almost a separate game you know when the fourth quarter starts when I checking in the fourth quarter

You know I’m not worried about my stats or or I’ve done in the first three quarters I’m I’m clearheaded whether it’s been a good or a bad game I’m clearheaded and focused on what I got to do this last whatever it is seven eight minutes to to help us win this game and

So uh I think just having that mentality of you know really coming back to the center when the fourth quarter starts and you know catching your breath and you know refocusing is is been my biggest uh factor which I would contribute to how I’ve been playing but

Yeah I think and I think you just live for those moments too I think it’s just it’s something about you when you’re a competitor that you know you just like you said you want the ball you want to carry that responsibility you wna um you

Know you want to be able to help your team over the edge and so um I just kind of had that mentality all year and I think you know as a team we’ve been you know adopting that mentality as well I think guys been stepping up in big

Moments um time after time and I think we’re just going to keep doing it well that’s great I know Jeff will tell you not everybody wants the ball at the end of the game gonna say want theall no they don’t follow and thinking that’s an Allstar mentality right there that’s right

Right all right good stuff well good luck the rest of the way 34 games left we’re excited about this playoff push here down the stretch and uh let’s let’s have a great finish to the rest of the season and let’s get into the playoffs congratulations and we’ll be cheering

Like hell for you in Indianapolis congratulations follow thank you guys appreciate you yeah I got about a thousand of these I need you to sign when we get home that’s all right all right that’ll do it for this special all-star edition of magic pod squad presented by star

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