Paolo Banchero's NBA debut evokes memories of LeBron James and Allen Iverson / News - Basketnews.com

Paolo Banchero stole the show in his NBA debut with a performance that brought to mind what only LeBron James and Allen Iverson had achieved before him.

Credit: AP Photo/Carlos Osorio Credit AP Photo/Carlos Osorio

In his much-anticipated NBA debut, Orlando Magic's Paolo Banchero joined some elite company.

Player of the Game EFF 20 Bojan Bogdanovic Points 24 Accuracy 8-16 Rebounds 5 Assists 2

Banchero, the No. 1 pick in the 2022 NBA draft, didn't disappoint in his first NBA game, scoring a game-high 27 points to go along with 9 rebounds and 5 assists as the Magic downed the Pistons, 113–109.

Banchero made 11 of his 18 shot attempts, and has become the first rookie since LeBron James to put up no less than 25 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in his NBA debut.

Only three others (Grant Hill, Willie Anderson, Ron Harper) have achieved the feat, along with the Magic's forward.

James, in fact, entered the league with immense hype and comparisons to Michael Jordan. He debuted at 19, on Oct. 29, 2003, scoring 25 points, dishing out 9 assists, grabbing six rebounds and amassing 4 steals on 12-20 from the field in a Cleveland defeat by the Sacramento Kings.

Wednesday's game was a matchup between the last two No. 1 overall picks. Detroit's Cade Cunningham delivered as well, scoring 18 points with 10 assists, although he struggled a bit in his shooting percentages, as he went 6-16 from the field.

Banchero starred at Duke and was amongst a number of first-pick contenders, together with Auburn's Jabari Smith Jr. and Chet Holmgren from Gonzaga. In the end, the Magic went with Banchero, making him the 5th Duke draftee to be taken with the No. 1 pick.

"It means a lot, I guess," the Italian-born player said after the game. "Obviously, I would have liked to win, but I just wanted to play hard, play for the team and that happened, so it's a blessing."

Banchero was great in the fourth quarter as Orlando tried to mount a comeback, going for 13 points, including a ferocious one-handed dunk over Pistons guard Cory Joseph.

2-pointers this season

55%31,0Points made:31,0Accuracy:55,4%Place in standings:11Record max:31Record min:31Most made 2FGs:Paolo BancheroTeamNBAStatisticsSchedule

Overall, Banchero scored the most points by a Magic player in their first career game in team history, outscoring former players such as Penny Hardaway, Shaquille O'Neal and Dwight Howard, all of whom scored 12 points in their first career game.

"It's crazy," Banchero said. "I felt like I left a lot of points on the board."

"Credit to my teammates for finding me. It's always nice to see the ball get in that early, get easy buckets around the rim. That's how I try to play, inside out. Try to get easy stuff around the basket and expand out and do more stuff throughout the game."

Banchero was the game's leading scorer, scoring the most points by a No. 1 overall pick since Allen Iverson scored 30 points in his debut in 1996.

"He handled himself very well," Jalen Suggs said.

"He got to his spots. He ran in transition. He was physical. He boarded. He made the right play when it was there. Paolo did a fantastic job tonight.

We're going to continue to ride with him; we're going to continue to grow and moments like this are important for us. We got to be in this to grow and he showed us a lot tonight."

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