Every NBA team’s worst Thanksgiving road trip companion

Philly 76ers: Jahlil Okafor

I feel somewhat bad for Jahlil on some level. I really do, kinda. He’s languishing on the end of the bench on a young team of playoff hopefuls with some of the most interesting personalities and playing styles in the league. One would think he’d at least get a flash or two to showcase himself, but no. He’s just there. And somehow he seems to be a negative asset on a rookie contract.

Maybe he’s an interesting guy, though. Perhaps he has a side business of buying and selling old school Happy Meal toys on the dark web. I can’t see that being the case, but wouldn’t it be interesting to find out?

Eh.

I feel like I’d get something else. You don’t hear a lot of rumblings about how unhappy Jahlil Okafor is. When asked, what he offered was:

"Honestly, I did not want them to pick up my option. This is my life. This is my career, and I’m not getting an opportunity here, which is fine. The team looks great and I’m not a part of that. I want the team to do great things, but at the same time I want to play."

I’d bet that stops being what one wants to say when what they see isn’t being reported. People need to vent sometimes. Who better to vent to than the person stuck in a car with you for an unforeseen period of time? We gotta talk about something, and I’ve nothing interesting to say. I’m going to guess that anger is going to fill that vacuum.