Paolo Banchero details how he plans to handle expectations in NBA as No. 1 pick

Duke basketball star Paolo Banchero became the No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft after a surprise move up the board in the final hours of the preparation process. After many believed the Orlando Magic would select Auburn’s Jabari Smith, they changed course and opted for one of the others often listed in the “Big 3” of the class.

During his introductory press conference, Paolo Banchero spoke about how he will handle the pressure and expectations to become a star as the No. 1 overall pick.

“Definitely, there’s going to be high expectations for myself, that I’m going to hold myself to and that everyone is going to hold myself to,” said Banchero. “But I feel like it’s nothing that I’m not used to. It was the same thing for me heading into college, throughout high school I had a lot of expectations. It’s been like that kind of my whole life, so I’m just going to approach it the same way I’ve always approached it and have fun with it. And really just buy into the team, we’re going to go from there.”

The 6-foot-10, 250-pound, Seattle native played and started 39 games for the Blue Devils as a freshman. He scored 17.2 points per game in 33 minutes with a 47.8% hit rate from the field. Posting 7.8 boards per game, Banchero was just a couple of rebounds shy of averaging a double-double, which he notched on 12 occasions.

He is a former five-star recruit who ranked No. 3 in the 2021 On3 Consensus rankings and No. 1 among power forwards.

Paolo Banchero on high expectations

As he continued speaking with the media, Paolo Banchero spoke about the expectations and roller coaster of fan reaction which comes with all the good and bad moments as a rookie.

“It’s nothing I feel like I’m not used to,” said Banchero. “It definitely is different, but I feel like I dealt with a lot of the same stuff throughout this year. I had a couple bad games, and everyone has their opinions and whatnot, but you can’t pay attention to that. You can’t give that any attention. People are going to say what they say. As long as me and my coach and teammates are on the same page, they’ve got their trust in me and I’ve got trust in them. We’re going to figure it out.

“I’m not ever really worried about what’s going on and what’s being said on the outside. I try to keep everything internal within the team and the coaches and look to them for help and advice.”