Duke Pro Paolo Banchero Got 'Good Juju' From Security Guard

The month before his 21st birthday in 1993, NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal became the youngest player in Orlando Magic history to tally a 40-point outing, finishing with 46 in a loss. Thirty years later, the month after turning 21, Duke basketball product Paolo Banchero became the franchise's youngest to do so since.

Banchero had 42 points, six rebounds, one assists, and two blocks across his 38 minutes in Wednesday night's 121-111 road loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. He shot 16-for-26 from the field, 1-for-5 from deep, and 9-for-12 at the charity stripe.

The Seattle native's previous career-high point total was 33 in November 2022, the early going of the former No. 1 overall draft pick's NBA Rookie of the Year campaign. 

Following his performance in Cleveland, the top-shelf NBA Blue Devil told the media, per the Orlando Sentinel's Jason Beede, that a Magic security guard predicted his 40-burger.

"During warmups, Marty, our security guard, came up to me and was like, '[You] got a 40-ball tonight,'" Paolo Banchero recounted. "And I was like, 'Yeah, I feel good.' And sure enough, it happened. So, shoutout to Marty. He might have put some good juju in the air."