Dejounte Murray and Paolo Banchero were the latest NBA players to have some beef between them, and it all stemmed from a pro-am game. After somewhat surprisingly being chosen with the 1st pick of the 2022 NBA Draft, Banchero has really impressed everyone with his displays at the Summer League as well as pro-am games, and it was more of the same earlier this month in a game against Murray.
Things got chippy, though, as the two went at each other on social media after the game, with Murray claiming that he had lost all respect for Banchero as he had changed after making it to the NBA, while the latter denied that was the case. The NBA then ensured that we would see them face off quite early on in the season, as the game between the Hawks and the Magic was scheduled on the 21st of October, but we didn’t have to wait that long either.
The two were going to play in the CrawsOver Pro-Am League and, as luck would have it, ended up facing each other in a game. While it was headlined as LeBron James and Jayson Tatum’s debuts at the league, Banchero and Murray also ended up having a special moment, as they appeared to have squashed their beef, with Dejounte helping up and embracing Banchero, who had slipped on the court.
Paolo 🤝 Dejounte pic.twitter.com/TbDB1QQcED
— Taylor Rooks (@TaylorRooks) August 21, 2022
It was great to see the two of them share an embrace, as it seemed like things had gotten out of hand over something very trivial. The slipping was, unfortunately, a theme at the game, as the court was too slippery due to condensation, which led to it being called off midway through the second quarter.
While Banchero emerged unhurt after this incident, Chet Holmgren wasn’t so fortunate as he ended up tweaking his knee during the game. It is a pity how things panned out here as everyone was so excited to see all the stars on display, but at least something good came out of it with these two seemingly back on good terms.
