Basketball, a cold shower announced for Italy: Banchero will go to the World Cup with the USA
The Orlando Magic basketball player, of Italian origins, had hinted that he could opt to defend the Italy shirt in recent years. But today the confirmation has arrived that the last few months of hesitation have led to the opposite choice
After months, perhaps years, the illusion faded. The illusion of all of Italy in basketball, especially Gian Marco Pozzecco, of having Paolo Banchero at his disposal for the next few years has been shattered. This was announced today by North American sources, according to whom the NBA Rookie of the Year will compete in the World Cup that will take place in Asia with the United States jersey, his country of birth.
All this after the same basketball player of Ligurian origins visited Italy last week, thus increasing the hope of falling in love with the blue shirt. Instead, nothing to do. The Orlando Magic winger, back from an excellent first year in the NBA, will not respond to the Italian sirens, as he is evidently more motivated to show off with the US national team, which is looking for an important redemption after the seventh place finish in the 2019 Chinese World Cup.
Covid hit?
Courted by Italy, his grandfather’s birth country, since 2018, Banchero took his time, also because at the time he was still in high school and had not yet measured his talent against professional players. After obtaining an Italian passport, he also had the opportunity to make his debut with the Azzurri in the autumn of 2020, but the positivity of a member of his family to Covid prevented him from making the trip and being ‘blocked’ by the national team , that he would thus hold onto it forever.
Then, the hesitations, also manifested by his agent Mike Miller, who declared that his client would make a choice that “will condition his next 15 years”. This is a period that Banchero will evidently want to dedicate to the stars and stripes national team, aiming for higher goals. His outburst this year has certainly turned the tables. However, some statements in the past will remain in his memory, such as that of 2020 in which he assured: “I want to help Italy qualify for the Olympics”. Then, last year, another confirmation of this presumed ‘love’: “My intention remains to play for the Italian national team”.
Finally, the freezing shower. A shower that leaves an entire town dry, which however had already begun to smell everything after various hesitations and the lack of response to Pozzecco, who was craving to train him. Now, everything has now evaporated and gone down in history as something of spectacular potential. And who knows what Paolo himself will feel if his USA and ‘his’ Italy cross paths at the now looming World Cup of discord…
2023-06-24 16:51:34
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