Paolo Banchero realized something was wrong with him and was shocked by how serious it was.
The Orlando Magic All-Star will be out for several weeks due to a torn right oblique muscle, an injury he suffered during his team’s loss to Chicago on Wednesday night.
The injury was diagnosed on Thursday, which means Banchero will miss the game on Friday in Cleveland. The Magic are facing the Cavaliers again, following their first-round playoff series from last season.
“I felt it when it happened,” Banchero said on Friday while talking to reporters in Cleveland after the Magic’s practice. “Didn’t know what it was but knew it didn’t feel good. Just tried to play through it, wanted to get it looked at after the game, was hoping it wasn’t too bad but obviously it was a little worse than I thought.”
Banchero started the season strongly, averaging 29 points per game, which was seventh in the league going into Friday. He is one of only three players who had that average, along with 8.8 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game. The other two are Nikola Jokic from Denver and Giannis Antetokounmpo from Milwaukee.
“It sucks. There’s no other way to put it,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “It sucks for him, the way in which he started this year, the way in which he was playing, the way he’s carrying us in so many ways.
And in the same breath, you have to say it’s an opportunity — it’s an opportunity for guys to step up, step into their role, opportunity for guys to continue to play to our standard of basketball.”
The Magic announced that Banchero will be assessed in four to six weeks. He mentioned the six-week estimate. If he is out for six weeks, it means he will miss at least 21 games. This would likely make him ineligible for most end-of-season NBA awards voting due to new rules that started last season.
“Hopefully, it’s not a multi, three-, four-month injury,” Banchero said. “Hopefully, it’s just six, something weeks. Just trying to stay engaged as much as I can and stay positive, take it one day at a time and be ready to come back.”
Banchero scored a career-high 50 points on Monday against Indiana, making it the first — and as of Friday, still the only — 50-point game in the NBA this season.
The Magic said he got hurt in the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s game in Chicago. Banchero had 31 points in that game and was still playing at the end.
He plans to travel with the team while he is recovering, according to Mosley. Banchero will participate in some coaches’ meetings, allowing the 2022-23 rookie of the year, the No. 1 overall draft pick, and first-time All-Star last season to experience the game from a different perspective.
“It’s another opportunity for his growth,” Mosley said. “There won’t be as much physical activity going on, but it’ll be a mental version of it. His ability to be in some of the coaches’ meetings, to see the game differently from that side of the floor, it’s an opportunity for his growth in that realm.”
