Paolo Banchero shares advice he received from Russell Westbrook / News - Basketnews.com

Westbrook told Banchero what to do during the months of January and February, when it usually gets the hardest to play consistently. The veteran guard said to set a daily routine and keep it every day to the T so that the only thing to worry about on game days is the game itself.

Credit: AP - Scanpix Credit AP - Scanpix

After becoming the NBA Rookie of the Year in his first season in the strongest basketball league in the world, Orlando Magic's forward Paolo Banchero was named an All-Star in his second season.

3-pointers this season

34%10,8Points made:10,8Accuracy:34,4%Place in standings:30Record max:25Record min:2Most made 3FGs:Jalen SuggsTeamNBAStatisticsSchedule

This point of the season is usually the hardest for the players, as the end of the regular season is nowhere near, while the All-Star break is still weeks ahead. At this time of the year, Banchero said he experienced his first true moment when it got hard during his rookie season.

"Last year, that was when I got messed up. January, February, I got messed up. That was the wall that everybody talked about. That was when I hit the wall. That was the biggest thing for me this year - how can I make sure I'm ready for that? Because it's going to happen," the player said on The Old Man & The Three podcast.

"Actually, a guy who talked to me, or I talked to and asked, was Russell Westbrook," Banchero revealed. "He came up to me and told me he was like, 'Yo, whatever, good year,' he said, 'What's up, congratulations.' He was like, 'But, you know, year 2 is the hardest year'. I was like, 'For real? Why do we say that?' He said, 'Because one, you have expectations now. Everyone is expecting you to perform, everyone's expecting you to improve and be better.'"

Westbrook has been in the NBA for more than a decade. He's been the league's MVP, he's been to the NBA Finals, and he also went from being one of the most beloved players to one of the most controversial.

"So then I asked him, 'What was your mentality? How did you become better in year two? What did you do?'" Banchero said.

"He said what I said earlier about energy. He said, 'I made sure my routine was the same every day. I still do, but made sure I ate the same every day, I knew how much I was eating, what I was eating, how much I was sleeping, so that when the game starts, I'm not even thinking about how I feel. I might be sore or whatnot, but mentally, physically, I'm all there.' That was my biggest thing - making sure game-in and game-out and all the other stuff I have to do leaving up, whether it's stretching, eating, sleep, all that's taken care of, so in the game, I can just focus on the game," the All-Star explained.

Full podcast with Paolo Banchero:

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