Charles Barkley backs Paolo Banchero as No. 1 pick

Charles Barkley was breaking down the Duke vs. Arkansas men’s basketball matchup in the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight on Saturday afternoon for TBS. He spent some time discussing Duke forward Paolo Banchero, and Barkley had high praise for Banchero. “I’m talking to all these NBA coaches and general managers, because I been looking at a lot of tape for the last couple months on college,” Barkley said. “Coming in, I said, ‘Yo’ man, there are two or three different guys you can take with the No. 1 pick in the draft.’ Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah — hell no. You taking this dude (points to Banchero picture) right here.”
Source: Erik Hall @ Montgomery Advertiser

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“Watching him play on tape and then watching him play the last few games — Kenny Smith just said it — his ability to shoot, put it on the dribble, and I didn’t know he could pass the ball like he can. “If you got the No. 1 pick in the draft — I love my kid at Auburn (Jabari Smith); I love Mr. Chet Holmgren — but this dude better be the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft.” -via Montgomery Advertiser / March 27, 2022

Gonzaga’s Chet Holmgren was not shy when asked about the obvious stereotypes that come with being a basketball star who looks like him. “I was a white kid with a bowl cut,” the 7-foot-1 power forward told Andscape last month. “People were like, ‘This little white boy is trash.’ At the end of the day, I’m not going to worry about it. Everybody stereotypes in one way or another, whether it’s ethnicity or how you dress or what music you listen to, it doesn’t matter. Everybody’s going to have an opinion, everybody’s going to judge you. You can’t worry about it.” -via Andscape / March 25, 2022

But it’s also rooted in his personal upbringing, growing up in South Minneapolis in a diverse neighborhood. “It is just great to be able to be exposed to different things because at the end of the day, if you haven’t seen something you don’t really know about it,” Holmgren said. “That is why people can have misconceptions about one person to the other. That is why I feel I’ve been blessed to not only have been around a lot of Black culture, but other cultures in general.” -via Andscape / March 25, 2022