Seattle native Paolo Banchero to make long-awaited NBA return

Paolo Banchero is not a patient person.

The Orlando Magic forward acknowledges that he’s been frustrated for much of the last 2 1/2 months while recovering from a torn oblique muscle, one that kept him out of the lineup for 34 games.

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But Friday, finally, he returned. The team announced that Banchero would be in Orlando’s lineup for its game against the Milwaukee Bucks — and to say he was raring to go would be an understatement.

“I don’t think I’ve been in bad spirits at all,” Banchero said in an interview with The Associated Press regarding his return. “But it is frustrating. You know, I’ve never missed this much time since I started playing basketball. Going so long without playing, I mean, I was so ready for the season and then going down so early into it just makes you ask ‘why?’ sometimes.”

He got hurt in the fifth game of the year. The Magic were playing their 40th on Friday, one shy of the season’s midway point.

They did better than most probably expected during Banchero’s absence.

The Magic — who have been dealing with a slew of other injuries, Franz Wagner’s torn oblique and Moritz Wagner’s season-ending torn ACL among them — entered Friday in the No. 4 spot in the Eastern Conference. They lost their first four without Banchero, then went 19-11 since.

“There’s a team-wide belief in each other that anyone can step up at any moment,” Banchero said. “Guys put in the work just to be ready for the moment. And you’ve seen that with different guys stepping up every night. It was just really encouraging for me to see us respond like that. Guys getting this experience, coming through in tight games, close games against good teams, that’s only going to make us better.”

Banchero, a former standout at Seattle’s O’Dea High School, didn’t take time away from the team with his injury. He sat in on coaches’ meetings at times and was always on the bench with teammates for games, cheering at times and consoling at others.

“I had to try to find the positives,” Banchero said. “I’ve been able to sit and watch and just learn the game through a different lens. But I, for sure, have a chip on my shoulder now. Feels like some stuff I had was taken from me for a little bit. And now that I’m back, I might have to make up for lost time.”

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