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WATCH: Dejounte Murray welcomes Paolo Banchero to the NBA with highlight-reel dunk

by:Austin Brezina•08/07/22•

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Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Incoming rookie and number one pick of the 2022 NBA Draft, Paolo Banchero, was welcomed to the NBA by All-Star guard Dejounte Murray in rough fashion. The pair of NBA talents played against each other at a Pro-Am event hosted by Isaiah Thomas, and Murray created a highlight-reel performance at the former Duke star’s expense.

During their game, Murray got Banchero to bite on a fake pass that left Murray wide-open within a step of the basket. Murray took the moment to show off and give the rookie a taste of what an NBA All-Star can do — lobbing the ball off the backboard to himself for a dunk.

Murray then took the highlight and disrespect to the next level by grabbing the ball before Banchero could take the ball out of bounds and talking trash directly to the rookie’s face.

Dejounte Murray shows out against Paolo Banchero

While there’s no doubt that Banchero will have fans around the league watching him closely this season, it’s clear that being the number one pick in the draft has put a target on his head for at least one NBA player. The surge of professional players playing in Pro-Am events this offseason has led to plenty of memorable moments and chances to shine, but seeing an established NBA player take down a rookie before his first NBA game is rarely seen as publicly as Murray’s highlight.

The moment is possibly one that shocked Banchero as he gets accustomed to the next level of basketball, as the Magic’s rookie star named Murray as one of the players he hoped to play with in the NBA one day before he reached the draft.

In June of 2021, Banchero answered a fan on Twitter who asked which NBA player he most wanted to team up with, he named Murray — who was still on the San Antonio Spurs — and the Houston Rockets’ Kevin Porter Jr.

Nearly a full year later, Murray is now a star addition to an Atlanta Hawks team that features Trae Young — while Banchero got a taste first-hand of what it would be like to play against him.