Okafor was born in
Fort Smith, Arkansas.[4][5] His father, Chukwudi, known as Chuck, is a
second-generation Nigerian American of
Igbo descent, and his mother, Dacresha Lanett Benton, was African-American and European-American.[6][7] As a youth, Okafor split time between his mother's home in the town of
Moffett, Oklahoma and his father's home in
Chicago. When he was 9 years old, his mother contracted
bronchitis and died two weeks later from a collapsed lung. Okafor permanently moved in with his father to the
South Side of Chicago and then to
Rosemont.[8] Okafor attended Rosemont Elementary.[9] The adjustment was difficult because he was shy and so tall that other students thought he was put in the class for having failed.[7] In November 2008, during seventh grade he matched his father's height of 6 feet 5 inches (1.96 m).[10] Later the family moved to Chicago's North Side so that Okafor could attend
Whitney Young High School.[8]
As a 6-foot-7-inch (2.01 m) eighth-grader, Okafor was recruited by
DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball in violation of
National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) recruiting rules when DePaul
Athletic Director Jean Lenti Ponsetto made public comments about an offer.[11] Initially, interim coach
Tracy Webster, made an oral offer on January 30 outside the DePaul locker room at
Allstate Arena.[9] The offer was noted online by ESPNChicago.com and picked up by the press, leading to the problematic statements by Ponsetto.[9][12] In February 2010, Ponsetto confirmed in a statement:
This is a young guy we've been talking with for a long time, and who has been to games and we have a relationship with because his uncle works for the Rosemont Police Department...I think it's a prospect who has grown up around DePaul basketball. I think he's probably a fan and someone who has been a fan for some time, since we have played in Rosemont for the last 30 years.[10]
High school career
Freshman and sophomore seasons
Okafor and
Whitney Young teammate Paul White were regarded as the best incoming freshmen in the
Chicago metropolitan area, according to the Chicago Sun-Times's Joe Henricksen.[13] They joined a team with six returning seniors that had finished as state runners up the prior year.[14] Along with 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) sophomore Thomas Hamilton Jr. and White, Okafor was part of a trio of Whitney Young players ranked in the top 10 of their respective national classes by
ESPNU.[14] Entering the season, Whitney Young was considered to resemble a college team due to its size and athleticism.[15] That year, Okafor feels he was not one of the "key players" on the team, but attending tournaments with elite players such as
Austin Rivers and
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist inspired him to be one.[16]
Following his freshman season, Okafor was regarded as the second best
college basketball prospect in the Chicago area behind
Jabari Parker.[17] The scouting report on him was that he possessed an improved midrange
jump shot, nimble feet, soft hands and physical skills at 6-foot-9-inch (2.06 m) that made him a mismatch against almost any high school competitor.[18] Prior to his sophomore season Dave Spahn of SLAM Magazine described Okafor as a player with the footwork and
ambidexterity to dominate his opponents, placing him in the conversation for the role of best player in the national class of 2014.[19] In August 2011,
ESPN ranked him as the third best player in the class of 2014.[20]
Okafor and White were featured in Ball So Hard, the first documentary short by Life + Times.[21]
Following the season, the Chicago Sun-Times named him to the Class 4A All-State first team along with Parker, Keith Carter, Darius Paul and
Fred VanVleet.[23] The Chicago Tribune named him to its second team All-State team.[24] The
Associated Press named him to its Class 4A second team.[25] He was also selected by the Chicago Public League Basketball Coaches Association to its 25-man boy's All-City team.[26] The Chicago Sun-Times named him to its All-Public League second team as well as its All-area 20-man team.[27][28] By the end of his sophomore season, he started appearing on ballots from ESPN HS's 10-person panel for the
Mr. Basketball USA award as the best high school basketball player in the country.[29] He was one of twenty sophomores chosen as
Underclass All-Americans by ESPN HS.[30]
On December 20 Okafor and Young lost in overtime to
Dakari Johnson's ESPN #1-ranked
Montverde Academy. Young was ranked #9 at the time.[38] On January 19, Okafor led Young to an 85–52 victory over
Long Beach Polytechnic High School at the Hoophall Classic with 26 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks.[39] The victory gave Young a 7–1 record against nationally ranked teams for the year, moving Young to #2 in the USA Today rankings as they prepared for the January 26 crosstown showdown against Simeon and Parker.[40]
In the Chicago Public High School League playoffs February 15 finals contest against
Morgan Park High School Okafor tallied 19 points, 14 rebounds and 7 blocked shots, including a game-saving block against
Billy Garrett Jr., in a 60–56 overtime Public League Championship game victory over Morgan Park.[41]
Okafor was recognized as a 2013 All-Public League first team selection by the Chicago Sun-Times along with Nunn, Parker, Alexander and Billy Garrett, Jr.[42] On February 28, he was named the Chicago Sun-Times Player of the Year.[43] On March 25, Okafor finished as runner-up in the
Illinois Mr. Basketball voting to Parker by a 315–277-point margin, including a 43–40 first place vote margin.[44][45] On April 17, he was a
first team All-USA selection by USA Today along with Wiggins,
Aaron Harrison, Randle and Parker.[46] Following the demise of ESPN HS, HighSchoolHardwood.com undertook several honoraria selections. Although
MaxPreps.com did not select him as a first team All-American,[47] they did select him as a
Junior All-American along with
Stanley Johnson,
Joel Berry, Jones, and
Emmanuel Mudiay.[48]
Senior season
Following his time with Team USA, Okafor participated in the Nike Pro-Am Chi-League,[49] the
All-Peach Jam,[50] and the Adidas Nations event.[51] He made his verbal commitment on
ESPNU to
Duke basketball on November 15, jointly with
Tyus Jones.[52] Prior to his senior season, USA Today named him to its 10-man preseason All-USA team along with Alexander, Stanley Johnson, Jones,
Trey Lyles, Mudiay,
Malik Newman,
Kelly Oubre,
D'Angelo Russell, and
Myles Turner.[53] On November 21, Winslow committed to Duke, giving them the number one recruiting class in the nation with Jones, Okafor, Winslow and Grayson Allen all committed.[54] Okafor was joined on the Chicago Tribune's preseason Illinois Mr. Basketball top 5 by Alexander,
Jalen Brunson,
Tyler Ulis and
Keita Bates-Diop.[55]
Okafor dominated the December 27–30, Les Schwab Invitational hosted by
Liberty High School by leading the tournament in scoring (31) and rebounding (12.5) and finished 2013 atop the three major recruiting databases (ESPN, Rivals and Scout).[56] Young went 2–2 in the tournament, losing to
Rainier Beach High School[57] as well as losing to Oregon's defending Class 6A state champions
West Linn High School.[58] On January 4 at the Cancer Research Classic in
Wheeling, West Virginia, Okafor earned the tournament MVP based on a 24-point 9-rebound performance against Mudiay's
Prime Prep Academy.[59]
Okafor and Young reached an anticipated city championship matchup with Curie and Alexander at the
Jones Convocation Center. Okafor had 16 points, 14 rebounds and 3 blocks.[60] Curie won the city championship 69–66 in quadruple overtime as Okafor had 16 points before fouling out with 2:13 remaining in regulation.[61] The CPL Championship game was attended by
Mayor of ChicagoRahm Emanuel and was the lead story on the late edition of
SportsCenter.[62]
On March 14, Okafor posted 35 points and 13 rebounds in a 75–66 victory over
St. Rita of Cascia High School (who featured Kentucky-bound
Charles Matthews), earning Young its first sectional title since 2009 and leaving them one victory away from the final four.[63] On March 18, Okafor led Young to a 58–32 victory over
Loyola Academy with 12 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 blocks.[64] On March 21 Okafor's 33 points and 14 rebounds enabled Young to overcome a record setting 56-point performance by Brunson with a 75–68 victory over
Stevenson High School.[65] On March 22, Okafor and Young won the
IHSA Class 4A state championship by defeating
Benet Academy 46–44. Okafor only produced 8 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists as he battled
Xavier-bound Sean O'Mara.[66]
Okafor dunking in postseason play
(left) The 2014
IHSA championship game; (right) dunk for a 103–102 west lead with fewer than 40 seconds left in the 105–102
2014 McDonald's Game victory
Okafor earned co-MVP (with
Justin Jackson) of the April 2, 2014, McDonald's All-American Game after posting 17 points and 7 rebounds, including the go ahead dunk with fewer than 40 seconds remaining,[67] for the winning west team in a 105–102 victory.[68] On April 12, he posted a 14-point 10-rebound
double-double in an 84–73 Team USA Nike Hoops Summit victory over the world team.[69] On April 18 in the Jordan Brand Classic, he earned co-MVP with (Alexander) by posting 29 points and 9 rebounds.[70][71]
In 2011, center
Dakari Johnson was named National Freshman of the Year by ESPN HS.[80] In the following months, Okafor beat out Johnson for a spot on the 2011
FIBA Americas Under-16 Championship Team USA.[81] Okafor spent his sophomore season ranked as the number one center and second best player in the national class of 2014 by SLAM Magazine behind
Andrew Wiggins, according to SLAM's Franklyn Calle.[82][83][84] In January 2012 during his sophomore season, he was ranked third in the class by
ESPNU.[85][86] By April, he was ranked second.[87] By the end of his second year, there was talk that with Jabari Parker Chicago might produce the number one high school player in the country in back to back years, something that they had come close to with
Mark Aguirre and
Isiah Thomas in the late 1970s.[88] Also in the
1981 NBA draft Aguirre and Thomas were selected
first and second, respectively.[89] On October 25, 2012,
Andrew Wiggins announced that he was
reclassifying into the class of 2013,[90] which cleared the way for Okafor to assume the number one ranking in the
Rivals.com ranking for the class of 2014.[91] As of November 2012, he was listed number one in the national class of 2014 by Rivals.com and number two by ESPN.[92] He remained number one according to Rivals with its March 14, 2013 rankings update, following his junior season.[93]
Okafor opened the season as ACC Freshman of the Week on November 17.[109] In his first three games he shot 25-for-30 on his
field goal attempts.[110] He was again named ACC Freshman of the Week on November 24 and December 1.[111] He had his first two 20-point performances in the
Coaches vs. Cancer Classic with 24 points against
Furman on November 26 and 21 against
Army on November 30.[112] On December 15 with a 25-point and 20-rebound performance against
Elon, Okafor became the first Duke freshman to record 20 rebounds in a game and the second ACC freshman to record 20 points and 20 rebounds in a game, joining
Joe Smith.[113] The performance earned Okafor his fourth ACC Rookie of the Week Award and first Wayman Tisdale National Freshman of the Week recognitions.[114] He then scored a season-high 28 points against
Boston College on January 3,[115] earning his fifth ACC Rookie of the Week, first ACC Player of the Week, and second Wayman Tisdale National Freshman of the Week recognition the following day.[116] He was again ACC Rookie of the Week on January 12 and 19.[117] He was named to the John R. Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 list on January 14.[118] After sitting out a game due to an ankle injury, Okafor posted a career-high 30 points in an overtime win against
Virginia Tech on February 25.[119]
On June 25, 2015, Okafor was selected with the third overall pick in the
2015 NBA draft by the
Philadelphia 76ers.[131] After debuting with a 20-point
NBA Summer League performance on July 6, Okafor signed a two-year contract with the 76ers on July 7, with team options for two additional seasons.[132][133] He debuted for the 76ers, logging 26 points, 7 rebounds and two blocks, against the
Boston Celtics on October 28.[134][135][136] On November 9, he posted his first career double-double with 21 points and 15 rebounds against his hometown
Chicago Bulls.[137]
After the 76ers got off to an 0–16 start to the season, Okafor was involved in a street fight with taunting individuals on November 25 in
Boston.[138] On November 30, with additional reports surfacing that Okafor had been involved in various controversial and dangerous off-the-court situations, the 76ers agreed to a request to assign a security guard to accompany Okafor in public.[139] On December 1, Okafor and the 76ers defeated the
Los Angeles Lakers 103–91. The win ended the longest losing streak in the history of major professional sports in the United States (28 games going back to the prior season) and the worst start in NBA history (tied with the
2009–10 New Jersey Nets at 0–18).[140] The next day, video surfaced on TMZ of a second fight in Boston from November.[141] Okafor was subsequently suspended by the 76ers for two games.[142] He returned from suspension against the
San Antonio Spurs on December 7, recording 10 points and 4 rebounds off the bench in a 119–68 defeat.[143] On January 27, 2016, he was named to the
2016 NBA All-Star Game weekend
Rising Stars Challenge lineup.[144]
In February, the 76ers had Okafor and
Nerlens Noel swap positions as Okafor moved from
center to
power forward. On February 6, he recorded 22 points and a season-high 17 rebounds in a 103–98 win over the
Brooklyn Nets.[145][146] On February 21 against the
Dallas Mavericks, Okafor posted a career-high 31 points in a 129–103 loss.[147] On February 28, Okafor posted 26 points against the
Orlando Magic,[148] but he endured a shin contusion in a collision with teammate
Isaiah Canaan that was only expected to sideline him for a game.[149][150] As he missed his fifth consecutive game, 76ers head coach
Brett Brown noted that Okafor had a
CT scan on his knee.[151] On March 11, Okafor was ruled out for the rest of the season after tests revealed that he had sustained a small tear of the
meniscus in his right knee.[152]
After the first week of the
2016–17 NBA season, the 76ers exercised the third-year team option on Okafor's rookie scale contract.[155] Okafor began the season on a 16-minute cap to be played over "smaller segments" and restriction from back-to-back game participation following the re-aggravation of his meniscus injury.[156] His cap was soon raised to 24 minutes.[157] He was cleared to play unrestricted prior to the November 21 contest against the
Miami Heat.[158] On January 14, 2017, Okafor, who had not played in the 76ers' previous three games, scored a then season-high 26 points in a 109–93 loss to the
Washington Wizards.[159] He was selected to participate in the
Rising Stars Challenge event during
All-Star weekend.[160] On February 25, 2017, he had a season-high 28 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a 110–109 loss to the
New York Knicks.[161] On March 31, 2017, after missing the previous four games, he was ruled out for the rest of the season with right knee soreness.[162][163]
2017–18 season
On November 1, 2017, Okafor revealed that he would welcome a trade or buyout from the 76ers, after the team decided to not pick up the fourth-year, $6.3 million option on Okafor's rookie deal, after having tried to trade him for some time.[164][165] Once the 76ers decided not to pick up Okafor's option, it gave him the right to be a free agent following the season. He saw time in only two games in the first 5 weeks of the season. After the 76ers could not reach a trade,[166] the team opted to not reach a contract buyout agreement.[167][168] It was later revealed that Okafor, along with several others associated with the 76ers, had been the subject of a
disinformation campaign by the wife of then-General Manager
Bryan Colangelo, using confidential information from the GM to denigrate Okafor and excuse the team's unwillingness to trade him.[169][170]
Brooklyn Nets (2017–2018)
On December 7, 2017, Okafor was traded, along with
Nik Stauskas and a 2019 second round draft pick, to the
Brooklyn Nets in exchange for
Trevor Booker.[171] In his debut for the Nets on December 15, 2017 (his 22nd birthday), Okafor had 10 points and four rebounds in 23 minutes in a 120–87 loss to the
Toronto Raptors. He had played just 25 minutes all season for the 76ers.[172] Following his debut, the Nets decided to get him back into playing shape before putting him in games again.[173] His next game came on January 3 against the
Minnesota Timberwolves, where he scored two points in 11 minutes.[173] Three days later, he had 12 points in 13 minutes in an 87–85 loss to the
Boston Celtics.[174] On January 27, he scored a team-high 21 points in a 111–97 loss to the Timberwolves.[175] Following the season, he became an unrestricted free agent.[176]
New Orleans Pelicans (2018–2020)
On August 9, 2018, Okafor signed with the
New Orleans Pelicans.[177] On December 19, he posted a season-high 17 points in 13 minutes against the
Milwaukee Bucks.[178] On January 19, the Pelicans announced that
Anthony Davis endured an index finger sprain that would sideline him 1–2 weeks.[179] With the increased playing time Okafor set sequential season-high totals in a January 21 105–85 win over the
Memphis Grizzlies (season-high 20 points and season-high-tying 10 rebounds),[180] a January 26 126–114 loss to the
San Antonio Spurs (24 points and 15 rebounds),[181] and a January 29 121–116 win over the
Houston Rockets (27 points) with 12 rebounds.[182] On January 23, he posted a career-high 6 blocks against the
Detroit Pistons.[183] In the last game of the Pelicans' season, Okafor scored 30 points against the
Golden State Warriors.[184]
On June 20, 2019, Okafor's team option was picked up by the Pelicans.[185] On October 31, he scored 26 points in a 122–107 win against the Denver Nuggets.[186] On January 13, 2020, he had 25 points and 14 rebounds in a 117–110 overtime win against the Pistons.[187] On January 28, Okafor announced that he would change his number from 8 to honor
Kobe Bryant.[188][189] He would wear the number 9 for the rest of the season.[190]
On September 4, 2021, he and
Sekou Doumbouya were traded to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for
DeAndre Jordan.[192] Five days later, the Nets waived Okafor.[193]
On September 22, 2021, Okafor signed with the
Atlanta Hawks.[194] However, he was waived on October 11.[195][196]
In October 2010, he successfully tried out for
USA Basketball's 2011–12 USA Developmental National Team.[203] In June 2011,[203] he qualified for the 12-man United States team at the 2011
FIBA Americas Under-16 Championship along with Simeon rivals Parker and Nunn.[204] In the gold medal game, Okafor made all of his
field goal attempts posting 18 points and 14 rebounds.[205] For the tournament, his 46 rebounds over 5 games ranked him second on the United States team (to
Aaron Gordon) and third at the Championships in rebounding.[206]
He was a member of USA Basketball's 12-man
Team USA at the
2012 FIBA Under-17 World Cup with Parker and Nunn again.[207] His listed height was 6 feet 11 inches (2.11 m).[208] At a two-game four-team preliminary exhibition tournament in
Las Palmas, Canary Islands the week before the championship began, he was named tournament MVP.[209] He was also
named the MVP of the 2012 FIBA Under-17 World Cup, for the gold medal-winning United States team.[210][211] Okafor posted 17 points and 8 rebounds in the gold medal game.[212] Over the course of the tournament, he was the second-leading scorer, with 13.6 points per game, and second-leading rebounder for the United States, with 8.2 rebounds per game.[213]
On May 21, 2013, USA Basketball announced the roster of 24 players, including Okafor, who had accepted invitations to the June 14–19, 2013, USA Basketball
Men's U19 World Cup team training camp. The camp was used to select the 12-man team for the June 27 – July 7,
2013 FIBA Under-19 World Championship in Czech Republic.[214] Okafor made the final roster that was announced on June 18.[215][216] The team won the gold medal, and Okafor made the
All-Tournament team, along with teammate and
tournament MVP Gordon.[217] He led the tournament with 77%
field goal percentage,[218] and he was the only player on the All-Tournament Team who would return to high school.[75] However, coaches
Billy Donovan and
Shaka Smart told him his weak link was his conditioning.[219]
His mother, Dacresha Lanett Benton,[7] died when he was 9 years old, leaving him to be raised by his father Chukwudi and aunt Chinyere Okafor-Conley,[9] whom he refers to as his "auntie mom."[223] His father's full name is Chukwudi Obika Okafor.[224] His parents met in
Fort Smith, Arkansas when Chuck played basketball for a local
junior college.[223] "My deepest fear is losing someone else close to me," Jahlil told Chicago magazine. "That's something I think about way more than I should."[223]
Okafor plays
chess and the saxophone as well as the
tuba.[9][225] In junior high, he participated in the
stage crew for a musical.[223] He is a distant cousin of fellow NBA player
Emeka Okafor.[9][226][227] He is of Nigerian descent through his paternal grandfather who moved to the U.S. from Nigeria at the age of 20. Okafor traveled to Nigeria when he was in seventh grade.[228]
Okafor has been practicing
hot yoga since the 2016–17 season.[229] He used to be a
vegan so that he could prevent his knees from swelling, but he changed his diet when he realized that there was a deficiency in his iron.[229] Okafor has his own chef to make sure that he gets a sufficient amount of protein in his diet.[229] After going to a sleep lab during the 2019 offseason, Okafor was diagnosed with
sleep apnea and now uses a
CPAP machine, which has improved his quality of sleep.[184]
^Baumgaertner, Gabriel, Kevin Fixler, Erin Weaver and Macklin Woodruff (July 5, 2012).
"Future Game Changers". Sports Illustrated.
Archived from the original on October 19, 2013. Retrieved December 20, 2012.{{
cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link)
^"All-Peach Jam Teams". EYBL basketball coverage – D1 Circuit / Sport Ngin. July 19, 2013.
Archived from the original on August 20, 2013. Retrieved July 23, 2013.