Duke basketball: Paolo Banchero drops 50 points in homecoming game

Duke basketball forward Paolo Banchero put on a show for his hometown fans. 

It has been a long time since former Duke basketball forward Paolo Banchero played in front of his hometown fans in Seattle, Washington.

The No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft has not laced up the sneakers in Seattle since he completed his senior year of high school in 2021 before heading down to Durham and the future Orlando Magic star made sure to put on a show when he returned home.

Banchero played in the TheCrawsover Pro-Am Basketball League last weekend and teamed up with No. 2 overall pick Chet Holmgren.

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TheCrawsover League is run by former three-time Sixth Man of the Year, Jamal Crawford, also a Seattle native.

Trae Young, Dejounte Murray, John Collins, and Jaden McDainels also played in the sold-out event last weekend.

However, it was the dunks and performance of Banchero that created the most buzz around the weekend games after the former Blue Devil dropped 50 points in his league debut as a professional.

https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1554945653519917057?s=20&t=DfWTLzi820_8q-hBfej_hw

Duke basketball star enjoying life as a professional

Paolo Banchero has been making the rounds since being selected as the No. 1 overall pick in late June and dominating his brief stint in the NBA Summer League where he averaged 20.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 6.0 assists per game.

Banchero also was seen working out with a host of NBA players, most notably Donovan Mitchell, in New York City after his two weeks in Las Vegas and then inked his first major brand deal with Jordan Brand.

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In his only season at Duke, Banchero was named as the ACC Rookie of the Year and was a consensus Second Team All-American while averaging 17.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 1.1 steals per contest.

Paolo Banchero will look to lead a young Magic roster which has not made the postseason since the 2019-20 season.