Nets give Jahlil Okafor the second chance he’s dreamed of
There were off-the-court problems, knee surgery, and the benching over the season’s first two months.
Jahlil Okafor could have landed in Antarctica, and he may have considered it an upgrade from Philadelphia. The only Process he was interested in was getting out of town. Suffice it to say, he was overjoyed when the Nets acquired him from the 76ers on Thursday.
“I feel like I was dreaming,” the 6-foot-11 big man and third-overall pick in the 2015 draft said Monday, as he met the Nets media for the first time since the deal. “It finally happened, and I’m in a great city.”
Okafor’s star had fallen dramatically since he led Duke to a national championship in his lone year in college and was named to the NBA All-Rookie team after averaging 17.5 points on 50.8 percent shooting. He started just 33 games a year ago and, as his numbers dropped significantly and he rushed back from March knee surgery, he fell out of favor amidst Joel Embiid’s rise.
A free agent-to-be, he twice ran into trouble off the floor — ticketed for speeding, driving 108 mph over the Ben Franklin Bridge in Philadelphia and caught on video in a nasty street fight in Boston. He was roundly criticized for his inability to defend or rebound at a high level. This year, he appeared in just two games for the improved 76ers of Embiid and Ben Simmons, and publicly asked to be traded or released on Nov. 1. His father, Chukwudi, wore a “Free Jah” T-shirt this year.
Okafor said he tried to make the best of the difficult situation. He leaned on a lot of people, from Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski to his dad. His two dogs gave him comfort, he joked. Most of all, Okafor got through it by transferring his frustration into effort.
“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,” he said.
Okafor was finally moved Thursday, the 76ers sending him, sharpshooter Nik Stauskas and a 2019 second-round pick in exchange for Nets veteran forward Trevor Booker. And now Okafor can go about rebuilding his reputation for Brooklyn.
“I have a chip on my shoulder,” he said. “This is the first time where people are against me in a sense because I’ve always been the hyped-up guy. It’s something new for me to experience, so I’m glad that I am experiencing it.”
Okafor mostly said the right things Monday, except for the fact that “I wouldn’t say I’ve learned anything” from the off-court issues. He admitted there are deficiencies he needs to work on, saying, “I’m not a perfect player. I’m 21 [years old].”
He plans to dedicate himself to getting better defensively, and is eager to do whatever is asked of him. He feels ready to showcase the improvements he’s made with his body, dropping 20 pounds since adhering to a vegan diet this summer.
“Full fledge, I’m all-in,” Okafor said.
Both Okafor and Stauskas had a workout with Nets coach Kenny Atkinson on Sunday morning, hours after the team returned from Mexico City. They worked on learning the Nets offense, and got to know Atkinson. It stunned the newcomers how hands on their new coach was.
“For our first day here, for Kenny to spend an hour on the court just taking us through skills and drills, it was eye-opening to us, because that’s not something we were very used to in Philadelphia,” said Stauskas, who made it clear he wasn’t taking a shot at 76ers coach Brett Brown. He “loved” his former coach.
“That was different for me,” Okafor added.
He is uncertain if he will play Tuesday night against the Wizards at Barclays Center. He had yet to have that conversation with Atkinson. But it wasn’t hard to figure out his preference.
“I’ve been sitting down long enough,” Okafor said.