As you know by now, Philadelphia 76ers star rookie, Jahlil Okafor, has been in tons of off the court issues recently. There’s no excuse for knocking out fans in the streets, but when you come from a winning background to a losing environment, things can become frustrating.
Elite scorer, Carmelo Anthony, has been around the block a few times, which is why he’s decided to offer some words of advice to the young Okafor.
I wish I could reach out to [Okafor]. I had to learn the hard way. Unfortunately. I had to figure out that I had control of my own career and which direction I wanted to go in.
There comes a time you sit down with yourself, have some ‘me’ time and figure out what you want out of your life and career. There was some people I was able to get advice [from] and vent to, but a lot of my experiences I had to deal with on my own.
Unlike his rookie teammate, Kristaps Porzingis, Okafor doesn’t have veterans around to keep him on his toes.
You can’t hold guys hands and walk them through day-to-day life. [Knicks rookie Kristaps Porzingis] is fortunate enough to have veterans and guys in this locker room that can talk to him and teach him. That situation with Okafor, it’s an unfortunate situation. That could’ve been anybody. It happened to be him. He’s dealing with that. I feel bad for him. I know those situations. Sometimes you can’t control those situations.
With security surrounding Okafor from this point on, things should start to improve.