Not much has changed for Okafor ... unless you ask him
PHILADELPHIA » The Brooklyn Nets have played seven games since acquiring Jahlil Okafor from the 76ers. And the third-year center has played in exactly one of them — as strong an indictment on Okafor’s basketball fitness as any available metric.
Nonetheless, Okafor beamed about his current situation in Brooklyn.
“I’m happy I’m here with the actual NBA coaching staff that’s taking care of me every day,” he told the New York Post. “When I was in Philly I was figuring it out on my own. I had my own trainer (Rick Lewis) that I’ve been working with since eighth grade working me out. But it’s a different level when you’re actually working with an NBA staff.”
In the interview, Okafor contended that he was relegated to independent conditioning work during his time in Philadelphia, suggesting that the Sixers’ coaching staff did not commit time to his development.
Sixers coach Brett Brown took umbrage with that statement.
“Jahlil knows what we did here,” Brown said. “It’s a young person who gave a quote. I have read that. I think everybody understands how we treat people here and the attention he received while he was here. That’s my reaction.”
Okafor, sent from the Sixers in a Dec. 7 trade, isn’t exactly forging new ground in Brooklyn. He logged 10 points and four rebounds in 22 minutes of a road loss at Toronto last week. It’s the only action he’s seen in a Nets uniform. He played in only two of the Sixers’ 23 games prior to the trade.
It wasn’t all that long ago that Brown was the green head coach, looking at the opposing team’s bench and toward a savvy veteran holding a clipboard.
In many ways, Brown has yet to shed that new-guy label. He openly admits he has plenty still to learn in his role. But he’s also making himself available to sharing knowledge with coaches in similar scenarios.
Brown and Sacramento’s Dave Joerger have shared conversations, both coaches said. Joerger is managing perhaps the youngest team he’s had in his five years between Memphis and Sacramento.
“We did talk about his situation,” Brown said. “There’s always things that I pick up, too. He’s coached veteran teams, young teams. … You try to help them where they can. We did speak about some of the situations I’ve been through in Philadelphia that, seemingly, he’s going through in Sacramento. He’s doing a good job.”
Joerger said the call served as an extension to the knowledge he’s accrued from Brown, who he’s known since playing for one of the Spurs’ summer-league rosters back when Brown was in San Antonio.
“I remember sitting around in one of the first coaches meetings we had in San Antonio and we’re talking and, mostly, sitting,” Joerger said. “And it’s, ‘Hey, you, you, and you. Go up and draw your favorite baseline out-of-bounds play.’ And it turned into picking each other’s brains. For me, I love that stuff. I’m a big fan of (Brown’s).”
NOTES » Monday in Chicago, Brown hinted that Ben Simmons slowly would be incorporating more jumpshots into his game. Monday came and went, without Simmons attempting a shot from outside the restricted area. Simmons made good on Brown’s promise Tuesday, knocking down consecutive jumpers in the first quarter. ... Sixers have one more home game before the holiday, hosting Toronto Thursday night at Wells Fargo Center. After that, they travel to Toronto for a game Saturday (a 5 o’clock start), which is the first of a five-game road trip that includes a game in Madison Square Garden on Christmas Day at 12 Noon.