Paolo Banchero’s Cousin Talks About Paolo’s NBA Future

Paolo Banchero is the most prominent athlete in his family, but he’s not the only one. Mom Rhonda was a tremendous basketball player at Washington and dad Mario played tight end there too.

We didn’t realize he had a cousin who plays basketball too.

Chris Banchero, who is half Filipino and half Italian, plays for a team in the Philippines called the Meralco Bolts.

It’s a very different system they have: the team is in the Philippine Basketball Association and owned by the Manila Electric Company.

At 33, Chris is a good bit older than Paolo, so they never really overlapped, but he thinks highly of his younger cousin. Here’s what he had to say:

“It’s an amazing thing. He’s one of the best basketball players in the world, and I think he’ll continue to be the best...He represents our city, he represents our family and the way he handles everything at such a young age is amazing to watch and amazing to see. He got people around him, his mother and his father, trainers from our city that have really made sure that he’s on the right path.”