Jahlil Okafor has seen the video that went viral during the week of his poor defensive effort on Wednesday, and he has an explanation for it.
In short, Okafor acknowledges he was tired at that point in the game, though he defends himself by saying he also was following the team’s defensive gameplan.
#Sixers center Jahlil Okafor talks about his defense. pic.twitter.com/mlwdpKdAQb
— Keith Pompey (@PompeyOnSixers) March 3, 2017
“I know about the clip that everybody’s been talking about,” Okafor said after shootaround Friday, via CSN Philly. “The persona of me not caring defensively is false. I took it upon myself to talk to our defensive coach Lloyd Pierce to ask about that individual clip. He said that I did the defensive concepts and that was to retreat, retreat, retreat.
“And I understand visually it looks bad. I was fatigued. I played the entire first quarter and I was tired. I’m not making excuses. … I did do what I was supposed to do and that’s retreat. We had an amazing roller in Hassan Whiteside so my job was to not let [Dragic or Whiteside] behind me. Of course [McGruder] runs in to get the offensive rebound and I’m [accountable] for that, too. That’s my fault, supposedly. That’s what everyone’s trying to make it out to be. The coaches are happy with the way I’ve been improving and every day I continue to work.”
Okafor’s defense has long been in question. That could be part of the reason why trade rumors have surrounded him for the past year, though Philly did not end up dealing him.
Still, taking a look at the clip (seen below), there really isn’t much of an excuse for his play on the sequence in question:
Jahlil Okafor with the Defensive Play of the Year
For Shaqtin A Fool..pic.twitter.com/Lb0JxpF3UU— Sportando (@Sportando) March 2, 2017
Okafor just was not giving enough effort at that point against Miami. His play was embarrassing and called out for good reason.
Okafor has recently said that dealing with all the trade rumors has been difficult. He’s not exactly inspiring the Sixers with confidence to keep him in the future.
H/T CBS Sports
