Okafor ‘motivated’ to make Net gains
He’s got a fresh start, but now the young centre needs to retool his game for today’s NBA
NEW YORK — Jahlil Okafor only knew success on a basketball court through the first 20 years of his life.
He was the consensus top prospect in his class for years. He led Duke University to a national championship in his lone season in college. He was the third overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft, then averaged 17 points and seven rebounds en route to a first-team all-rookie selection with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Then came a knee injury that derailed his entire second season. Then came the ascension of Joel Embiid, a singularly gifted talent, at his position. Then came a banishment to the bench this season as the Sixers desperately tried to send him elsewhere.
Questions arose about whether Okafor has the capability of being an effective NBA player — let alone the star he was projected to be.
Okafor has been freed from Philadelphia after being traded to the Brooklyn Nets last week, and he’s ready to prove his doubters wrong.
“I feel really motivated right now, and I’ve always been motivated,” Okafor said Monday, standing in front of a banner in a news conference room in the team’s practice facility. “I have a chip on my shoulder. This is the first time where people are against me, in a sense, because I’ve always been the hypedup guy.”
Okafor is no longer the hyped-up guy. He’s largely viewed as a player who would have better fit in the league 10 or 20 years ago, when the sport was played in a way that more suited his skill set.
That ignores the production Okafor had as a rookie, and also glosses over his situation in Philadelphia. It’s easy to forget, as the Sixers are now flying high with Embiid and Ben Simmons, but in Okafor’s rookie season, Embiid was injured and Simmons was still in college. Dario Saric was a year away from coming to the NBA from Europe. Robert Covington was developing into a full-time NBA starting wing. The roster didn’t include an NBA-quality starting point guard.
Okafor said the knee injury that cost him his second season was in part because he rushed back due to the presence of Embiid and Nerlens Noel.
“I kind of jumped right on the court because I didn’t want to lose my position and my spot,” he said. “I didn’t take care of myself the right way. I think I should have taken more time out before jumping on the court last year.”
Embiid’s emergence made a trade inevitable. Sixers general manager Bryan Colangelo spent the past several months feeling out the market. It may have taken longer than Okafor and his camp, led by power agent Bill Duffy, would have liked, but there were few better landing spots for Okafor.
For starters, the Nets desperately need help at centre. Timofey Mozgov looks like US$48 million of dead salary the Nets swallowed in a trade with the Lakers last off-season to get D’Angelo Russell. Jarrett Allen has promising tools, but he’s still a rookie. Tyler Zeller, a journeyman at best, has been starting.
Okafor can immediately step into the breach and provide minutes. He should team up with Allen to play most — if not all — of the 48 minutes at the position every night, giving Brooklyn a chance to size him up and providing Okafor an opportunity to prove that he has what it takes to be a contributor in the NBA.
“I just worked my ass off every day knowing my opportunity would come and it would present itself, and I wanted to make sure that I’d be ready when it happened,” Okafor said about being marginalized in Philadelphia. “Just every day, working hard with the coaches on the staff — they still cared for me. Just making sure I was ready for this opportunity.”
Expectations of him becoming a star have faded, but he still has the tools to be effective. That remains the case even in today’s NBA, where speed, athleticism and three-point shooting are prioritized at every position, centre included.
“I mean, I’m not a perfect player,” Okafor said. “I’m 21. There’s things that I need to work on and I have worked on and that I’ll continue to work on.”