Cole Anthony On Paolo Banchero

The Duke-UNC rivalry is eternal, but mostly for fans. The players tend to see things on a different level and in a different way because, well, they’re the ones who go head-to-head and who know just how good the opponents are.

And of course in the NBA, they sometimes become teammates, as we see with the Orlando Magic, where Wendell Carter and Paolo Banchero are teammates with former Tar Heel Cole Anthony. And Anthony has some thoughts on Banchero, the former Blue Devil who went #1 in last year’s NBA Draft before winning the Rookie Of The Year award: “Man, Paolo’s tough man. And he’s just a kid — I’ve gotten the chance to get in the gym with him a bunch and he just works his tail off. And so I think that’s not what everyone, you kind of get the sexy stuff on the court. But behind the scenes is where the real worker happens. That kid is a worker, man...”

And naturally he goes on to discuss Duke-UNC a bit, which is kind of expected. He’s a loyal Tar Heel as you would expect, but his best teammates are Blue Devils now, so you have to learn to live with that.