Paolo Napoleon James Banchero is an Italian-American but not a Filipino.
He was born on November 12, 2002, in Seattle, Washington to Mario Banchero and Rhonda Banchero.
Banchero is of African-American descent on his mother’s side and Italian descent on his father’s side.
An Italian-American professional basketball player, Paolo Banchero is the 2022 NBA draft first overall pick.
He played college basketball for the Duke University-Duke Blue Devils.
On April 20, 2022, Banchero declared for the 2022 NBA draft, forgoing his remaining college eligibility.
The Orlando Magic selected Duke forward Paolo Banchero with the first pick in the 2022 NBA draft on Thursday night. Following weeks of Auburn’s Jabari Smith being projected as the consensus top pick, the Magic shocked everyone by selecting Banchero.
This was the first No. 1 draft pick for the Orlando Magic since 2004 when they selected Dwight Howard with the overall pick.
Banchero is the second No. 1 pick in the last four years for the Blue Devils. The 6-foot-10, 250-pound forward, averaged 17.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 3.2 assists in 33 minutes over 39 games for the Blue Devils.
Banchero was fourth in rebounds in the ACC and recorded 12 double-doubles this past season.
In 2022, he was named the ACC Rookie of the Year and a member of the All-ACC first team.,
