Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post - J&G Steakhouse Acting General Manager Rob Rawleigh shows Washington Wizards center Emeka Okafor how to hold a server's tray.
At a glance, Emeka Okafor is not like the others. “He’s a Renaissance man,” said Ernie Grunfeld, the Washington Wizards’ team president
The Wizards big man estimates he read 20 books before training camp opened, but lately he’s been listening to podcasts from TED, a series of lectures and conferences that focuses on technology, entertainment and design.
The Washington Post’s Michael Lee describes how the Wizards got their main target with the selection of Bradley Beal with the third pick in the NBA Draft and discusses the effect that Beal’s shooting will have on point guard John Wall.
“If you want to know anything, you go to Mek,” said Trevor Ariza, a teammate in New Orleans who was traded to Washington with Okafor in the offseason. “He’s Wikipedia. He knows everything.”
In the offseason, Okafor visited the Vatican, sampled restaurants in Italy personally recommended by his pal Mario Batali, stopped by the Great Wall of China and was amazed by the architecture in Shanghai.
“He’s someone you can talk to about anything,” said Ed Tapscott, the Wizards’ director of player programs and the former president of the Charlotte Bobcats, the team that made Okafor the No. 2 overall pick in the 2004 NBA draft.
So here’s Okafor, a man of the world, trying to find his place in the Wizards’ locker room, a clubhouse full of young up-and-comers. Okafor was that once, but now he’s 30 years old. Unlike most of his teammates, he’s married. He’s a few years removed from his best statistical seasons.
“I might not go out and party with them, because I’m at a different point in my life,” he said. “But there are other ways to be involved with everybody.”
Okafor is decidedly different and the Wizards, from the front office to the coaching staff, are convinced that’s a good thing. The team has spent the past couple of years trying to purge itself of troublemakers and knuckleheads. The Wizards traded for Nene last season and then added Okafor this offseason; each is expected to be a force in the middle but also a vital presence in the locker room.
“They’re professionals,” Grunfeld said. “True pros who come to work every day, they put their time in, they’re team-oriented players. Emeka sets a great example for the young players with his work ethic, the focus and the discipline that he shows.”
Okafor points out that he’s not different from every other player as much as he’s different from a tired NBA stereotype: The league in which one superstar can wear designer eyeglasses after a meaningless February game and by the next morning’s shoot-around, half the players sport similar frames. But the NBA isn’t all video games and sneaker collections.
“There’s a stigma about what NBA guys are like,” Okafor said. “It’s not true. If you were to talk to each and every NBA player, you’d find a lot of different interests, people who like a lot of different things. . . . I like to read, I like to travel, I like to eat — I’m a big foodie. Other guys like different things. Not everyone falls into the same categories.”
Still, teammates say Okafor doesn’t expend energy trying to squeeze himself into categories that don’t suit him. The son of Nigerian immigrants, he’s traveled to at least 30 countries but doesn’t make a show of his differences. In the locker room, Okafor is quiet, preferring to lead by example. His elaborate pre- and postgame routines include stretching, yoga, Pilates, and it means he’s usually early to the arena and often among the last to leave.
Loading...
Comments