What is the Dejounte Murray and Paolo Banchero beef about?
It will be interesting to see where this feud ends up, with both players claiming to have respect for the other. Get your popcorn ready.
There is nothing like a good beef between players to spice things up and this NBA offseason is no different. With the two Seattle natives going at it, we’ve got the makings of a proper summer story.
Why are Dejounte Murray and Paolo Banchero beefing?
Though it’s not quite clear why things have got so heated between the pair, here’s what we can deduce: As mentioned above, both Dejounte Murray and Paolo Banchero are from Seattle. Murray has now been in the NBA for six seasons and was most recently traded to the Atlanta Hawks. Banchero on the other hand, has yet to play his first game in the NBA given that he was only recently drafted to the league, albeit as the No. 1 overall pick by the Orlando Magic.
This is where things get interesting. Still a month out from training camp, both players turned up for Isaiah Thomas’ annual summer pro-am tournament, Zeke-end and it didn’t take long before the friction started. After a play in which he faked out Banchero and then proceeded to toss a pass to himself off the backboard for a drunk, Murray appeared to embrace the moment, calling Banchero too small. The Hawks player then took to social media where he ‘welcomed’ Banchero to the ‘Big Leagues.’
What happened next between Dejounte Murray and Paolo Banchero?
As the game went on there were varying moments where the pair could be seen exchanging words and even bumping each other. In one aggressive exchange, Murray can be seen speaking aloud: “That’s who they came to see? It’s a man’s league, he’s a little boy. He’s too soft. I’m the real number five.” From there the two took to social media where there were a number of back and forths between them. Banchero got things off and running by posting, “lol unfollowed me on that gram n everything it must be personal huh? That’s fine jus make u guard up next time n stop sending doubles family.”
What did Dejounte Murray say in response?
It wasn’t long before Murray fired back and more than once to boot. In his initial Instagram post, In response, Murray stated “You Tried To Flex That #1 Pick Shit On Me When I Been Rooting For You When You Was A Kid Asking To Rebound For Me @paolo5 Don’t Get On This Internet Saying Nothi...You Changed From The Humble Kid You Always Was And I Stand On Real Shit Boy And YOU KNOW!!!!!!! You Made It And Changed And I Lost All Respect!!” It didn’t stop there either. Murray later added another post in which he said, “Stay Humble. This Life You In Now Is REAL And Ain’t No Joke!!! I STILL WANNA SEE YOU WIN Cause That’s WHO I AM!!!”
Is there more to Paolo Banchero’s retort?
In case you’re wondering, things didn’t end with Murray’s tirade. Indeed, Banchero later returned to social media to make a cryptic reference to the ‘narrative.’ “Same humble kid always vouched for u bro don’t switch that narrative for that internet. shoutout IT tho for a great event.” Though there have been many theories as to why things have escalated so quickly between the two, we’re still in the dark as to exactly what the reason is. On the other hand we can say that there is almost certainly more in store for us with this beef, so stay tuned.