A high-flying rookie who once played basketball for a "blue-blood" university is taking the NBA by storm with eye-popping offensive numbers. That's the narrative surrounding Paolo Banchero of the Orlando Magic, and it's somewhat similar to the storyline that highlighted the record-setting inaugural season of Michael Jeffrey Jordan's illustrious NBA career. Much like "His Airness," Banchero was a lottery pick selection of an organization that had never sniffed an NBA championship prior to him suting up. The 6-10 power forward has already displayed traits of becoming a star, capable of re-writing the narrative for a downtrotten Orlando Magic franchise that has participated in nine NBA finals games (against the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers) throughout their history while winning just one contest. Five games into the 2022 NBA season, the 19-year-old became the 7th player in the history of the league to score over 20 points in all of his team's outings. In fact, his 23.2 scoring average was higher than Michael Jordan's average at the same juncture of his rookie campaign. While his statistics aren't quite as impressive as Jordan's as of yet, it is important to emphasize that Banchero is still a teen. On the flip side, Jordan was 21 years old during his rookie season after having played three years under Dean Smith at the University of North Carolina.
The Orlando Magic are now 1-7 on the season, whereas Jordan's Bulls were 6-2 through eight games during the start of the 1984-85 NBA season. Statistically, Paolo's on-court performance has far exceeded the play of his contemporaries from the 2022 NBA draft class, such as Jabari Smith (Houston Rockets) and Keegan Murray (Sacramento Kings). But it remains to be seen if his in-game dunks and Jordan-esque mid-range jumper will be enough to lead his team to the NBA playoffs, similar to Michael Jordan leading the Bulls to the 7th seed of the Eastern Conference standings at the conclusion of the 84-85 regular season.
For now, Paolo is just another cog in a lost list of previous "Next Michael Jordan" contenders, such as Harold Miner, Penny Hardaway, Grant Hill, Jason Richardson, Vince Carter, Kobe Bryant, and Kawhi Leonard. Only time will tell if Paolo's rookie scoring numbers will eclipse Jordan's average of 28.7, the second-highest scoring average of all time (to Wilt Chamberlain's 37.6), a record that has stood for nearly 37 years. If he does, he'll do so in a pair of Jordan Brand sneakers. More specifically, the Air Jordan 37, the Jordan Luka 1, or the Jordan Zion 2. The former Duke Bluedevil signed a multi-year sneaker deal with Michael Jordan's 'Jumpman Brand' about three months ago. Opting to collaborate with the iconic Nike imprint over Adidas and Puma. Upon inking a deal with Micahel Jordan's company, Paolo disclosed that he had "family ties" to the NBA icon because a family friend of his named Cliff King has worked with the Jordan Brand since his childhood.
Source: MARCA
