NBA Rookie Paolo Banchero is Putting Up Stats Comparable to the Start of MJ's 1st Year

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A high-flying rookie who once played basketball for "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 strikingly 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 a downtrodden franchise that has never won a championship. The 6-10 power forward has already displayed traits of becoming a legacy-altering capable of re-writing the history books of a franchise that has played in nine NBA finals games (against the Houston Rockets and Los Angels Lakers) while winning just one. 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 note that Banchero is only 19 years old. 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.