Things are spicing up in the Pro-Ams before the start of the NBA season. Former NBA all-star Isiah Thomas hosted the seventh Zeke-End tournament in Tacoma, Washington. Moreover, Thomas was from Tacoma himself. Interestingly, Atlanta Hawks, all-star Dejounte Murray, and Orlando Magic rookie Paolo Banchero played against each other. And things got chirpy between them on and off the court. The Hawks guard gave the #1 draft pick an early welcome gift before his NBA debut.

Banchero was completely lost after a pump fake from Murray. Then he threw the ball off the glass for an alley oop finish for himself. This disrespectful play is going viral now. Then the duo went back and forth about the whole play on social media.

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On the court, there could have been a lot of trash talking, which would have led to this. And when Murray came back to the bench, he had some words for the rookie. He said, “It’s a man’s league. He a little boy, he’s too soft.” Paolo Banchero would definitely not be pleased by Murray’s comments.

Dejounte Murray and Paolo Banchero lock horns before the NBA season

After the nasty off-the-backboard dunk, Murray can be seen taunting Banchero as well. Both the players are originally from Seattle. After the game, the Hawks guard took to social media and made a funny remark about the dunk. Murray jokingly welcomed Banchero to the NBA. He wrote, “WELCOME TO THE BIG LEAGUES!!!!!!!” He also admitted that his dunk was disrespectful.

So the #1 draft pick chimed back saying, “lol unfollowed me on the gram n everything it must be personal huh? that’s fine just make sure you guard up next time n stop sending doubles family”

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Then Murray replied saying that Banchero tried to flex that he was the #1 pick. Also, Banchero has changed, so he lost his respect for him. Then Paulo replied saying that he has always been that humble kid and asked him not to change the narrative.

As a high school junior, Paolo averaged 22.6 points, 11 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game. He was one of the top prospects coming out of high school. After receiving offers from multiple NCAA Division 1 teams, Banchero committed to play for Duke. As a freshman, he averaged 17.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game. He then declared for the 2022 NBA Draft and the Orlando Magic selected him as the #1 pick.

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Dejounte Murray, on the other hand, had been developing with the San Antonio Spurs. And he had a breakout season last year as he averaged 21.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 9.2 assists per game. This led to his first ever all-star selection last year. And multiple teams were trying to land him during the offseason. Finally, the Atlanta Hawks signed the exciting guard to play alongside their superstar, Trae Young.