News broke out on Thanksgiving Day that Jahlil Okafor got involved in a street fight after the Sixers loss to the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night. TMZ was first to release the news with a video that shows Okafor hitting a fan who was heckling him and fellow rookie teammate Christian Wood.
News has since broke out that the police will not be investigating the scuffle, but Okafor can still face disciplinary action from the league or the Sixers organization.
Okafor spoke for the first time on the situation today at Sixers shootaround as they take on the Houston Rockets tonight.
Jahlil Okafor: That’s not who I am. Says has a great support system, and Sixers organization has been great. pic.twitter.com/0UlTv0lKqp
— Brian Seltzer (@brianseltzer) November 27, 2015
Jahlil Okafor, 19, is one of the youngest players in the NBA, so mistakes were expected to be made. It’s sad to see the first mistake we see from him was in a situation like this. Okafor is the leader of the Sixers which is the first problem. It is a tough role for a kid that young to be the leader of an NBA team.
The Sixers having only one player older than 24 makes it tough to say there is veteran leadership on this team, but I don’t think that would have stopped Okafor from fighting. Okafor has never been on a losing team of this caliber before so he is not used to this type of setback.
As a Philadelphia sports fan, I am almost glad to see this. I know that it was a mistake and should probably never have been done, but with a city that is in sports turmoil right now, it’s inspiring to see someone show some heart. Heart in a bad way, yes, but in a way it shows that he wants to defend this franchise.
Okafor will learn from this and it will only bring a more mature Okafor out of it.
