There are a lot of good things you can say about Duke Basketball players, collectively known as the Brotherhood. They have spread far and wide in basketball, first as players but also as coaches, scouts
and executives. Mike Krzyzewski is obviously the font of it all, or at least most of it (we tend to forget that he came to a program that already had great history, tradition and popularity), but the roots now run deep. Members of the Brotherhood are everywhere, including Grant Hill running USA Basketball.
One thing you don’t necessarily list as a quality of the Brotherhood though is a sense of humor. We know they all do have a sense of humor. We remember Nolan Smith at an open practice yelling “are you not entertained?”
For anyone who doesn’t know, it’s a line from Gladiator.
For our money though, hands down, the funniest member of the Brotherhood is Paolo Banchero.
Sometimes it’s unintentional. His response to a British sports presenter who mistook him for Patrick Mahomes was not intentionally funny, but it was. Remember when he said he’d like to play UNC instead of Virginia Tech in the ACC Tournament?
Big mistake – Virginia Tech won and made Duke pay.
When he was then asked who he’d prefer to play in the NCAA tournament, he said something like “not gonna get me again!”
The whole thing – his reaction, his facial expression, his laugh – it was great, and quite funny.
This time was pretty great too.
Some courtside fan yelled at him that “C’mon Paolo, I need two more points, homey! Two more points you get my parlay!”
Banchero laughed, took out his mouthpiece and told the guy “you’re addicted.”
Look at his face and how he says it. The guy is legitimately, naturally funny. Nike needs to take advantage of that in some commercials.
On a different note, it also, sadly, underscores some of the costs we’re paying for a wider acceptance of sports wagering.
The arguments to allow it are reasonable: it’s certainly not going away. People have always placed bets. In the Bible, the Roman soldiers at the crucifixion threw dice for Jesus’s tunic.
Clearly, it’s been here forever and it’s not going away.
However, the pressure on athletes, particularly young athletes, is becoming a real problem. You should absolutely keep an eye on that because at some point, something bad is going to come from it.
Go to the DBR Boards to find Blue Healer Auctions | Drop us a line
