Paolo Banchero Talks About Maturity and His Connection to the Air Jordan 39 on KICKS 27

The interior is buzzing. The backpack sitting at his feet vibrates and drains the car's door speakers. CD cases rattle on the console below his left elbow. It's 2011 and Paolo Banchero is riding in his father's car on a dark Seattle afternoon. They may mean exercising, eating or simply doing certain activities. But no matter what, one thing remains constant. Jay-Z's 2006 album, Kingdom Come.

The soulful piano keys of “Lost One.” The blaring horns and drums break out on “Show Me What You Got.” Screaming high hats from “Oh My God.” These are the sounds of Paolo Banchero's education.

Paolo says: “Jay-Z is one of the first rappers I ever heard in my life. “At that time I grew into my own, as a child, as a player. So that CD was always in the car. I heard it so many times, I just finished it, and I just fell in love with it.”

SLAM KICKS 27 featuring Paolo Banchero is available now.

Check out Hov's discography for album covers. Then watch how Paolo plays the game. It's a shockingly similar idea. Dimly lit back and polished wake. There is a lot of noise going on. A donkey-like figure stands in the center of the stage with thousands of eyes watching his every move. Ultimately, this parable speaks a clear truth. Both names—and the pivots in the post—tell the story of a man wise beyond his years.

Paolo Banchero is here. His days as the Green Devil are over. That Rookie of the Year award is a long shot. He throws the 30 over his head, smashes defenders' chests with his shoulder and brings the Orlando Magic back to the playoffs, with the Air Jordan 39 on his feet. Rarified opulence.

Paolo may have grown up as a Hov student, but the self-proclaimed musician is an old soul with an ear for the new school. In February of the 2023-24 season, the soon-to-be All-Star realized he had strayed too far from his roots.

Paolo says: “I suddenly found myself listening to the same music, I got bored with it. “And I was like, Man, I don't listen to Jay-Z! I was saying, Why don't I listen to Jay-Z? I have been listening to all this for months. i'm like Baby, I need to go back in.”

He did more than just re-enter. Just like he did with the pile of CDs in his pop music car, Paolo swiped through the legends in his music library looking for that old dirt. Berries. The music that nurtured his soul.

During the last two months of the regular season and throughout the seven games of the Magic's opening-round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Paolo was not bothered by anything other than Lil Wayne, Jay, Nas and Jeezy. “I felt like it gave me new energy,” he says.

The Pelicans scored 20 triple-doubles in late March. Then there are 32 pieces that go back on the road in early April. Jalen Duren came as close as he could to rival Paolo, but Banchero still hit the game-winner in February. And to top it off, 26 double-double points to earn the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference with a dub over the Milwaukee Bucks at the end of the regular season.

This is not typical second season stuff. His numbers—22.6 points, 6.9 boards and 5.4 dimes a night—were not just an increase in production from year one. We all watched as Paolo took that next step in the career of a future star. And he did it in year 2. Wayne's rhymes, Jay's tone and Nas's prodding all fueled the master class that unfolded before our eyes.

In the week of practice leading up to the Magic's first regular season appearance since 2020, Paolo changed everything. Lil Baby turned to Lil Wayne. The braids that had once been tied on each side of her head were now in tightly knotted rows. And the slew of Jordan Luka 2 PEs he's been wearing all season has been replaced by the bold editors on these pages, the Air Jordan 39.

Those at the AdventHealth Training Center in Orlando in April got a first look at a soft mid-range solution in the wild. For days Paolo could not take off his clothes. The Air Jordan 39's cushioning setup is inspired by the same magic that propelled Eliud Kipchoge to a marathon world record and Mike's fifth title in the Air Jordan XII. Combining this full-length ZoomX foam with Air Zoom cushioning was an addictive experience.

“Once I put the shoe on, that's when I was like, It's over. I have to be in these. I told Samke [Druffel, Paolo’s sports marketing rep at Jordan Brand] this 39 is their best work in my opinion. As long as I have a product, it's their best job. It's a very comfortable shoe, I like to wear it,” said Paolo.

That love ended up turning into what we saw 39 before that even the kind that was planned. Paolo was very private, he asked the team in Beaverton if he could be the one to release the model in Game 1 of the playoffs. For a game that easily fits the silhouette ethos, the response was a hell of a lot stronger.

The 39th iteration of Michael Jordan's signature sneaker began with Mike's infamous move. From his three-down rule that forced the offense to create creativity within simple boundaries to the fluid environment that left defenders stuck in the mud, the foundation of Michael Jordan's game was in trusting that simplicity. That's why there are only nine colors set to come out between now and next spring. That's why the haptic print upper, textured tongue and leather toe box stand out among the sea of ​​hidden advanced technology. The Air Jordan 39 is the epitome of refined elegance.

The essence of refined minimalism that permeates the Air Jordan 39 is exactly why Paolo is leading the shoe game. His movement on the block and transition is that of a calculated master. A polished hard-wired spaceship with a jet engine.

“How can I get to the basket or make a play without pulling seven or eight balls? I think that in the playoffs, that's what I honed and saw,” said Paolo. “That was something I knew going into the playoffs—I was going to have to hit a lot of mid-range shots. I would have to shoot and hold and shoot three. I was going to have to take what the defense gave me and basically cut the fat off my game and be as efficient as possible. “

The triple-white “Sol” colorway—marked by the red stripe on the Jumpman logo on the tongue—rode Paolo's 45-point streak in the first two games of the series.

“It was like I was floating. Obviously, I'm a big guy. I play with a lot of energy, I cut a lot, I jump, and there is a lot of energy put into my shoes,” said Paolo. “But those shoes, I don't feel limited at all. I feel like I can do any move, any cut. I can put as much force as I need into the shoe, and it will hold. It worked really well. I think I saw it right away. Sometimes, the shoe feels tight or the shoe feels too small and things like that. I think there was a sense of freedom when I was 39 when I felt like I could move around and do anything.”

At 6-10 and 250 pounds, Paolo is a moving force of nature, yet he glides across the hardwood with unparalleled fluidity. Abuse is inevitable. All parties know it. That's why they tend to pack the paint and force him to operate in the middle of the river any chance they get. But that's where the magic happens.

In that seven-game playoff series, Paolo was on the hunt for a spot. He wasn't taking half a clock to break down his man or analyze the rotation. It was all a natural reaction. If he drove towards the paint and saw the bodies, he would pull a middie. If he saw the slightest light in the daylight, he would make contact and eat the open shooter. When they rattle up the key, take it down, take it down man.

He wasn't worried about numbers, he wasn't worried about percentages. “He wanted to do whatever it took to win and get the job done.”

“That whole series, I improved and learned every game. “We lost the first two and everyone thought we weren't ready yet, and Cleveland was talking a lot, saying we were kids,” said Paolo.

The last thing Paolo Banchero did was a child. Scratch that. There is not even a vocabulary. We all looked at the same maturity this year. The Magic may have dropped their first two games in the playoffs, but in Game 3? The game that was playing in the back of those car rides with my father started to appear in the back of his mind. Back to basics. The surge is 31 points in three quarters. Jumpers met nylon. Fadeaways were static and uninterruptible. Getting to the edge was a routine. Abandonment measures were mandatory. The Magic pulled Paolo before the fourth up by 30.

Game 5 has 39 points on 57 percent shooting from three. Game 6 had 27, 10 in the fourth to tie the series at three. “That was a difficult task to do in front of the fans, in front of the home crowd, to be able to defend the home court like that,” said Paolo.

From October to early May, sales at the Kia Center became a regular occurrence. For the first time in what feels like a long time, there is a bonafide star wearing Magic blue. He shakes the old and the new. He is laser focused on his growth. And since the season wrapped, he's been back in his hometown of Seattle, surrounded by the love, comfort and inspiration that raised him. He has been refining his tools, trusting his instincts and improving every day.

“When I came to Orlando, I didn't expect much from the team, so I expected a lot from myself. But I wanted that out of the group. I wanted it to be a team success. I wanted people to start coming to the games,” said Paolo. “So it was good to see the number of fans growing, it's obvious that the organization is growing, we're getting stronger in the qualifiers.

“But now I think it's time to change, from that first stage of success and I'm happy to be successful. Now, we are trying to become one of the household names in Mpumalanga and Nhegano. It's not going to be easy—I know that, we all know that—but I think we're all ready and we're all happy.”

The 2023-24 season saw Paolo storm the Magic Kingdom, taking the throne and paving the way to immediate success for the entire organization. The time for the crack at the end of the tunnel is over. The lights are bright, the expectations are high and the hopes of every fan are on his shoulders.

“I think in the end, when it's all said and done, I'll look back on my second year, the last year, and look at it as a beginning,” Paolo said. “That was the start of something special.”

Photos by Marcus Stevens. Action Photos via Getty Images.