"He fooled us" - Paolo Banchero gets rebuke from Italian federation president for ditching Italy to play for USA in FIBA World Cup

Paolo Banchero had a tough decision this summer in deciding to play for Team USA or Italy in the FIBA World Cup 2023. He was eligible to join both teams and decided to play for the Americans, even though he had initially shared his desire to play for the Italians.

When Paolo Banchero made his decision public, he was criticized by the president of the Italian Basketball Federation, Gianni Petrucci.

In a recent interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport (via Basketnews.com), president Petrucci blasted Paolo Banchero for his decision to pick Team USA over Italy.

The veteran executive was also upset as Banchero and his representatives never called him to inform about the decision.

"It was a legitimate decision, but he could have made a call to communicate that to us," Petrucci said. "Instead, we learned about his decision from the newspapers. In the past few days, he was in Milan, and despite our agreements with his agency, he avoided the meeting with coach (Gianmarco) Pozzecco.

"Betrayal, especially in basketball, is a strong word. Situations like this happen, and personally, I'm used to it. But he fooled us. We were planning a great commercial strategy for him. Now we need to turn this disappointment into positive energy, I'm sure our coach will be able to do it."

Back in October, the 20-year-old forward and NBA Rookie of the Year appeared on The Young Person Basketball Podcast with R.J. Hampton and revealed that he planned to play for Italy.

"I'm planning to play for the Italian national team, I'm not sure when," Banchero said. "I haven't been out there yet, but man, the amount of love I'm getting from there, it's crazy, man. It's crazy. I can't wait to go to Italy."

After joining Team USA, Paolo Banchero addressed the situation and revealed that he had notified the Italian Basketball Federation about his decision and felt that the situation "ended up just fine." Banchero told Joe Vardon of The Athletic:

"For me, I just said thank you for what they had done since I was in high school, just how they helped me in terms of getting my citizenship, just learning more about the country, my heritage.

"But no, I think it was respect on both sides. I was able to send them a message saying thank you and how much I appreciate it."

Paolo Banchero explains why he chose Team USA over Italy

Paolo Banchero joined Team USA's training camp in Las Vegas on Thursday and started preparing for the FIBA World Cup 2023.

Banchero spoke with Vardon after practice and explained why he picked the Americans and not the Italians:

"To represent your country is bigger than yourself. It was a drawn-out process, choosing between (USA and Italy). I decided this is where I wanted to be. My mother played for Team USA, so it was always a dream of mine."

The Rookie of the Year also named USA Basketball Managing Director Grant Hill as a contributing factor on his decision.

"Him reaching out - I think it played a part (in my decision)," Banchero said. "Just him being able to have that trust factor between me and him, trusting that he's going to put me in the best position and I'm going to do my part to hold up my end of the bargain as well."

Paolo Banchero and Team USA will travel to the Philippines to take on Greece, New Zealand and Jordan in Group C of the group stage.