HELP A FAMILY ESCAPE SUDAN: www.gofundme.com/f/help-me-ge... Paolo Banchero promised to play for Italy but suddenly flipped at the last minute. Are the Italians right to feel betrayed or are they blowing this out of proportion?
As an italian, I think the real problem is Banchero's lack of trasparency: there is no problem choosin the Country you were born and raised in over the one your ancestors came from, but still his whole brand revolved around being italian, and he was - apparently - so commited to the italian team that italian bball fans felt teased and used. If he would had been less "loud" about his commitment, there would had been no hate
You are exactly right. Now he has to suffer ... not just from Italians but also his German teammates on the Magic who won the gold medal. I am sure they will remind him of this all season.😂
The real reason the Italian national team felt betrayed is not so much he made multiple public and private verbal commitments to them. The reason is he ghosted them before the Olympics and they found out he is playing for team USA from when they saw he was officially on their roster. Paolo completely ghosted them after multiple years of contact to him and his family since he was 16. They said they would have understood in the interview where they said they felt betrayed if he changed his mind. They felt betrayed because he ghosted them instead of just telling them he changed his mind.
He did inform the italian coach or federation but clearly made up his mind cause of grant hill and what italy wanted was to be given another chance to talk it over especially when he visited italy. I think paolo not being able to play before he was 17 due to covid basically became the loophole. I think he's planning to play for italy then change to US aftwr a few years so he can play for both countries.
@francheromagic also with the lengths he went just to be eligible to play for Italy plus the photo shoots just kinda left a bad taste in their mouth. And rightfully so, to the rest of the world its just another spoiled American who can't be taken for his word.
@@oats9755He expressed playing for the Philippines since day 1 of his NBA career. Regardless if he woulda made it or not in the US team, he would’ve chosen the Philippines anyway. Literally his whole brand is all about his Filipino roots.
That South Sudan segment is AMAZING! It deserves its own separate video. Perhaps do a deep background into the history and rise of South Sudanese basketball. Also, a video about NBA Africa's activities......
As an italian I can say that it doesnt matter that he was raised in the us, ITALIAN scouts found him and he explicitly said he wanted to play for us. He chose fame over loyalty and this makes him a traitor
I’ve worked with south Sudanese refugees and I can confirm their situation is dire. While they were incredibly humble and kind people, I’ve never known a group that was more focused on survival. I didn’t know they made the Olympics. That makes me very happy.
Usually, I'd be on his side since it's not the first or second time that a foreign (or multinational) superstar started playing for Team USA after getting naturalized or picking Team USA over their other country (Hakeem, Kyrie, etc.) But after his quotes... I agree with Italy. Paolo treats this like an NBA contract decision where he chooses the best situation for himself rather than a matter of national pride.
I have no problems with Paolo Banchero making his decision. I have no idea why Italians are angry at Banchero - he's American born. Be happy for the guy that he has Italian heritage.
@@toddsands6000imagine you are a boss of a company and you have the best employee agree to work for you. Then you try to reach out for a while and they ghost you and then they suddenly show up in your biggest rivals company. That would make you annoyed no? Not because they didn't choose you but because they didn't communicate at all about it. That's the problem
I'm Italian and we understand Paolo's choice. But he made it in the wrong way and that's why we're pissed off. And now, after the forth place and the rumor of a big USA team for the 2024 Olympics we're like "Oh, guess what? No Paolo in the USA star team for 2024"
Team USA has definetly sunk to a new low.....How did Steve Kerr honestly think he could beat grown men who really cared about representing their country with a bunch of college aged kids, this is exactly what happens when the best players in The world all feel like representing their country is now beneath them 😪
How's the roster Kerr's fault? LOL you act like they chose these younger guys over KD and Bron. This happened in the early 2000's as well for the 2002 and 2006 team. But the next couple years Team USA got the best squad available until 2019 and again this year 😂 It's like a cycle
respect AM hopps for talking about the Sudan conflict coming from a Sudanese guy myself and beautiful to see him raising awareness. My respect has only doubled for you keep up the content
Luol Deng is a class act 👏🏾 . South Sudan 🇸🇸 is soon going to be a powerhouse in Basketball. With the Dinka tribe as the tallest people in the world, that day is coming sooner rather than later. The trail that Manute Bol blazed is soon going to be a well-beaten path.
I love your coverage of NBA sorry I've never bought any of your sponsor products but here is some cash for your Sudan fund. Good luck my friend, keep up the great work.
When Giannis declared he wouldn't play for the Greek NT this year, the Bucks fans were celebrating, which i find somewhat disgusting and quite disrespectful! I fully understand how the Italians felt about Banchero, they still put up a crazy fight during the World Cup and i love them... ✊🏀
Yeah I consider international ball just as important as NBA in how I evaluate players. I won't consider a player world class unless they've played for their country.
@@JayTeeGR Thanks playing for your country is one of the highest honors and unless you're injured you should be playing. I won't blame a guy like LeBron for skipping the world Cup cause he's worn the USA jersey but younger guys nah no excuse.
@@mohamedabdourahman9845 National pride goes down the drain when you have a 250+mil contract going for you. Aint no way in hell I am risking an injury when that sort of money is on the line.
@@pyotrbagration2438 Messi and Ronaldo make as much star NBA players and yet they're playing for their country. You aren't a world class player if you have minimal or international basketball resume.
Austin Reaves' situation was hilarious. He almost played for Germany who ended up winning the FIBA Championship. Imagine if it was Italy who won the gold. It would have been really humiliating for Paolo
Italy didn't have to win. Paolo failed to medal with the US. That should be embarrassing enough. Its like leaving your hot wife, for a mistress who turns arounds and gains 50kg.
First off, I'm italian Here a lot of fans thought that Paolo would resolve a lot of our size Problems.. being taller than our center and much more mobile (and athletic of course). And size and athleticism was the first cause of the disaster game against USA. I was skeptikal about Paolo coming to Italy, as letting him go would have been a pretty big loss for the team USA movement, he is one of the most talented american player of this new generation... right know the best (of the best) talents in the NBA are not americans. And Paolo is CLEARLY USA born and raised, only visited Italy as tourist last year, and doesn't know a word in the italian language. He was clearly in anger at USA team that left him out when he made that verbal commitment to Italian team... and he was just a kid... and he still is very young. I'm not mad at him, I think the italian basket problem it's something bigger than that, and by skipping on us I think he dodged a pretty big bullet. Nevertheless he did it in an immature way and will always be part of his character perception, and not just in Italy, lots of fans around the world didn't like his "move". I like the guy personality, humble and kind, and this was a bit of a delusion.
I really cannot understand how Paolo is supposed to benefit more by choosing USA over Italy. I mean, first of all, he is obviously not going to be selected for the 2024 Olympics if all the stars come out to play. Imagine him playing for Italy, which is a pretty good team, and out of the sudden he wins a medal in a FIBA tournament. He is instantly a national hero. Jersey sells would be skyrocketing and people in italy would loooove him. No such things can happen while playing for team USA.
Think it was more about the development he got in his position playing for team USA (center). We found out that he’s actually not that bad of a defender and he can actually play off ball and be a tertiary option on a team. Personally, I think this helps the Orlando magic team immensely bc now he has unlocked more of that versatility. Vs. with Italy. It would’ve been more of the same role he already has on The magic now. I think he made the right choice for the long term. I know ppl may not see it that way tho
This is why I love this channel. I ignored all the FIBA videos on yourube because I didn't really care. Did not see a single video that was about Sudan so I would have never known about loul Deng and what he has done there. I would donate if I could but I will support this channel with views and likes
He will be playing, just 20 and still got many years ahead of him amd a superstar in the making, rather than a bunch of old players italy has to offer, and by the way nobody wants to play for Italy who has a history of being racist, look at Egonu this time a superstar in volleyball being left out. 😂😂😂😂
It’s not related but I’ve seen this guy play irl and you can’t figure out how well built and athletic he is dude, I was astonished when I saw him. He remembers me of Blake Griffin type build.
Great job for Deng, that's AWESOME. & glad that you helping too, that's very cool. Deng was a dawg in his prime tho, you kinda played him on that note lol
Just donated hope we as a basketball loving community can help. Basketball for us is entertainment to some other who less forunate its life or death. Thank you AM hoops
I think really the only problem was him using the idea of commitment to get citizenship- of course people would see that as betrayal if you did all of that just to change without even saying anything
Hey I Love your work and especially your videos based more on storylines and telling stuff beyond the sport aspect itself. I would like to ask if you could do a similar video about Dennis Schröder just like you did about Pat Bev and many more. His path is very interesting and inspirational and especially since he won the WC and is MVP of the tournament, the size of his steps he took show off immensely. Many people and I would very much appreciate it❤️🫶
As an Italian I was mad at him because of all he said in the past years. In Italy if you give your word about something you always have to respect it, it’s part of our culture. But then I realized he grew up in the US and he never came down here so his decision it’s a little more understandable
So if one stadium made Mario Balotelli cry on the pitch because of the racist chants, does that make all of Italy racist? Surely not. Everybody over here isn't inherently a terrible human being who can't keep their word. Simply boiled down to maybe I want to play ball with a group of guys I've been playing against and already am familiar with. As opposed to flying across the world to play with grown men, I've never met. Kid is 20 years old. Let him make mistakes.
@@Laidback_616 he didn't mean that in a disrespectful way. Giving our word is very important here in Italy (much less than it used to be), it's radicated in our culture. He was saying that, he not being Italian, means that he doesn't understand how culturally bad was that. Not only that but, having committed to play for italy, granted him of getting the citizenship so easily, skipping all the italian burocracy, wich is an hell.
Sudan and South Sudan are totally different places and people btw. The Arab Muslim Sudanese were genociding the African Christian South Sudanese hence the massive civil war to establish their own sovereign state and try to avoid annihilation. You can help by spreading awareness, Juba needs all the help it can get to try and establish permanent and lasting statehood at this point.
We as italian basketball fans hoped so much to have a young NBA star but he isn't italian by any means and now on every IG post he receives angry italian comments and insults lol, we have some kinda immature and inappropriate behavior at times
Well he should NEVER have said he would play for Italy if there was a chance he would change his mind. Then he needed to be honest about it -- and wasn't. Good luck.
Would be great to see a video on former players starting camps in their home countries and seeing the successes that stem from that. Most notable example is Mbah a Moutes connection with Joel Embiid
I know I may be a bit biased because I'm Italian 😅😅 but comparing our national team to the Hornets doesn't seem fair to me, we are a good team after all...
The problem with Pablo is that he should have been honest with the Italian coach and officials. Now he's a villain in Italy .... and considered a loser by U.S. fans. He looks like he was freeloading for a gold medal ... and got shot down. 😂 Good luck to Italian basketball!
The Hornets would absolutely destroy your national team. Even if you got together two second units from the worst teams in the NBA, that team would still kill Italy's national team.
What I was trying to say is NOT that the Hornets wouldn't absolutely destroy our national team, but that the quality gap between your national team and our is not as gigantic as the gap between the Hornets and the Warriors
@@will-zj5gq well no disrespect on Hornets, they are a fun team to watch... but no... a team who ends 8th at national levels has much more talent than a club team at the bottom of a league. This Italian team has beat a team with Jokic, Micic, Kalinic... you just play 2k and don't even know what level we are talking about lol.. 2k is a videogame not basketball
no dude. he doesnt support it. the people who donate it do. now the question is, how much does he kick in ? bcs he make alot of money with yt. its the old story that the rich ask the poor to help the poorest :). and all praise them for it
My Man Much Respect For Trying to Help The Sudanese ... I'm From Egypt And We're Not Only Sharing border, We're Brothers And Will die Helping Our Sudanese Brothers ... The Situation Is Horrible And Help Is needed More than You imagine .. Sudan Loses Lives Every day
Hi Casey I'm William. Kenyan by birth, lived here all my life. And it's interesting you made this video because believe it or not, the South Sudanese people are a people of strength and dignity encumbered by harsh circumstance. Being in Kenyan, not only have I met several of the refugee immigrants who come here to seek a better life, I've interacted with them and a few of them I know personally to have great interest in basketball. Please continue the work you do. I try my best though I'm not financially blessed, so I train basketball players, some being South Sudanese like this kid I know who just finished high school in Iowa. Keep up the great work Casey. I'm rooting for the South Sudanese people, they are family. (Almost literally since my tribal background stems directly from South Sudan 😅) 🎉🎉
straight to the point! He first was all "I am so proud to be an Italian", got the passport (for himself and his father - turned out that they were pushing to receive it, as well and it was not very easy for the italian president of the italian team to get i), then after he went to NBA, played well, understood that he still had a great chance, he changed his mind... He spit on my country and for that he has zero respect. If from the beginning he would said "yes, I have italian roots but my dream is to play for the US team", nobody would have said a thing....
The thing here also. Reading back on Deng. The media labeled him as this over payed wtf player. But when you dig in.. this dude is changing lives for the good for his country. Moral of the story.... do your research.
The problem is that ITALY would give out a spot to someone who ISNT ITALIAN AT HEART AT ALL and then go *surprised Pikachu face* omg how could he do this to us
It happens in all sports these days. Weather it's world cup soccer, basketball or even Olympics - players dnt necessarily have to be loyal to their birth country now. Players may choose the country that let's them have better chance for success. It's sad but fact
To me the best situation for him would have been to play for Italy cuz he's not good enough to play for team USA. Not to mention, I'm not sure why you didn't say it but they didn't medal this year and I heard it's the second time in a row. He could have also had really good branding opportunities so that he can make more money cuz he might have been the number one option on an Italian team which would have been good for the team and for him to make money. Then he can make in the US because he doesn't have a name and he's not a big talent. Not to mention when he comes up for contract renewal he could have gotten paid a lot more money because of his international fame
i love that fiba is getting popular every time .. because of this FIBA world cup now I knew new countries like south sudan, it's not in our history books or world map lessons when i was younger.. i did not know latvia as well.. is that a new country? i need to keep up with this new info.. last time i checked the planets were 9! now theyre only 8?
you should talk about what Joakim Noah is doing in Africa and trying to change the narrative about Africa Basketball and investing in BAL (Basketball Africa League)
As an Italian, I don't mind him playing for team USA (I mean, who wouldn't), but he should have handled the whole thing way more quietly. Don't commit to Italy publicly and wrap yourself in the Italian flag after the drafy, just make a choice, and we're good. That being said, it's good for our Country's basketball movement he didn't play for us. Italy has a huge, systemic issue of ruining young talents in favour of foreign players, and that's what we need to address.
I'm not sure if you've ever spent any time in Italy but I can assure you the average man on the street could name the starting 11 of every Serie A team and have absolutely zero fucking clue who Paolo is.
He was just bound to do in italy what he does in orlando, in usa he's forced to elevate his defense, minimize turnovers to earn his minutes. It'll benefit him in the ling run.
As Italian I was quite surprised when I saw the first video about Paolo and i discovered he really struggle to pronounce his own name... differently I was super surprised by Giancarlo Esposito
It will depend on if Orlando can win games & if he can start shooting at a higher %, plus RN I'd say Franz actually has a better chance of being an All-Star. But they both do if they can bring wins in to the team.
When I was growing up I often asked adults for advice and there were times when adults encouraged me and offered advice without any effort on my part. I have read about elite athletes such as Olympic Decathlon winners who wondered how they ended up being in so many sports when they started out with just one. I can only imagine Paolo Banchero getting a lot of advice over many years and this issue of "playing for Italy" seems to be one where he was getting some help, advice and guidance. Not one adult has ever come up to me and apologized for bad advice they gave me when I was a kid. My life is always my own responsibility. Banchero clearly had a chance to play for a better team and what he did makes sense. He took the best offer. If he has Italian fans then they still have the opportunity to see him play if they want so this seems to me to be a win-win situation for everyone. If he had played for Italy I guarantee American fans would make some noise. I wont mention the last piece of advice an adult gave me a few years ago after I had listened to another adult a few years earlier about a project that failed miserably. I'll just live with my failure and hope nobody stops me on the street to tell me how stupid I was to believe THAT.
