You may remember that Paolo Banchero was for a time teetering about whether to play internationally for the US or for Italy, where he’d be eligible since his father is of Italian descent. Banchero has this endearing habit of saying things fairly bluntly and he said this about his recently granted Italian citizenship:
“My dad’s side is Italian. His great-grandfather, my great-great-grandfather, was born in Italy and then moved all the way to Seattle and built a family there.
So, my father’s grandfather and his father they all from Seattle but with Italian roots. You know, growing up, I was always wondering why my name was Paolo Banchero, it was so different from all the other kids.