In an old video that recently resurfaced on Twitter and made shockwaves through the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets Twitterverse, Duke forward Paolo Banchero admitted his disdain for the Thunder as he grew up in Seattle, the home of the Seattle Supersonics.
“I grew up with the Sonics a little bit. I was like six (years old) when they left. So I never liked the Thunder,” said Banchero in the 10-second clip that went viral.
Paolo Banchero is one of us for real 🥺
“I never liked the Thunder”
Future ROCKET!#Rockets #LightTheFuse pic.twitter.com/wLzf4nUwqY
— Paulo Alves (@PauloAlvesNBA) May 30, 2022
Now it’s not totally sure when Banchero said this, but considering it looks like it was recorded on Zoom, it’s fair to say that the latest possible time this could’ve happened was in 2020.
Considering he was viewed as a potential first overall pick and will likely go in the top three in the 2022 NBA draft, I seriously doubt Banchero would say something like this during his college season. So this marks out anything after November 2021 at the latest.
This means this video probably took place in 2020, when he was still in high school. Don’t really know how much stock you put into it — if any at all. It’s a cute little diss, but that’s all it is. The Thunder are probably not going to take Banchero anyway as it looks like their eyes are set on Chet Holmgren with the second overall pick.
Editor Note: The video is from an August 2020 interview with Zagsblog’s Jacob Polacheck, where Banchero spoke about which teams he would like to play for the most in the NBA. His answer included teams like the Miami Heat and Portland Trail Blazers.
In the battle between potential No. 1 picks, Duke’s Paolo Banchero has 20 points on 8-for-13 FG and 3-for-6 from deep.
Shortly after committing to Duke in Aug. of 2020, I asked Paolo if there’s an NBA team he’s dreamed of playing for.
“I’d probably say the Heat and the Blazers” pic.twitter.com/PMOP4AB7WF
— Jacob Polacheck (@JacobPolacheck) November 27, 2021
