IMG_0392, originally uploaded by Indianwind.
Would Oak, and similarly Gerald Wallace, be higher on this list if they didn't play for the Bobcats? Yeah, probably. Luckily, we'll get to see this season as Okafor makes his first move from out of the shadow of Chapel Hill and Coach K and George Shinn's ghost. Wait...George Shinn still owns a team? And Emeka's going to play for said team? Irony of ironies!
The Skinny, I guess: Who is Emeka Okafor? You should know (and visit sister site Great Sports Name Hall of Fame like everyday. Everyday!) that his full name is Chukwuemeka Ndubuisi Okafor, and he is ethnically Igbo Nigerian though he was born and raised in the land of bombs bursting in air and the Houston Rockets red glare. Growing up he idolized Clyde the Glide and patterned himself after fellow Nigerian Hakeem Olajuwon, but his play is more a marriage and test tube baby result (yay politics!) of Charles Oakley and Dikembe Mutumbo. You can think of him as Dimeka Oakley-afor, if it helps. And, no, that doesn't come in goggle form. He channels the gravitas side of Deke too, having borne a 3.8 GPA in college and actually graduating in the three years he attended UConn.
Emeka's Hornets Jacket, originally uploaded by Vittorio De Zen.
Okafor went to UConn, where he teamed with Charlie Villanueva and Ben Gordon to form the lineup with most potential to be dapper ever. He was drafted second overall by the Bobcats in '04, in a maelstrom of misconceptions that continue to dog him. There was talk at the time he should've gone first over Dwight Howard. We see now that would've been ruinous for Oak, since it's never good to be picked ahead of a guy who plays the same position as you and will go on to cast a long shadow over the position during your careers. Still, some still think of Emeka as injury prone simply because those were the questions swirling around the draft that for reals dropped him to #2. He did have the disastrous 05-06 season, as did the entire Bobcats roster. Besides that, he's been somewhat of a stalwart, and goes in to New Orleans with a consecutive games played/started record of 93.
The other unfortunate outcome of June 24, 2004 was that persistent shadow Emeka's had to, or perhaps been fortunate to play out from under. EO's not the kind of player to visibly play with a chip on his shoulder. Indeed, the next chip out of that chiseled physique will be the first. Still, it can't be fun to be the guy drafted after D-Ho and now traded for Tyson Chandler. It actually reminds me of Sam Cassell being involved in trades for more high profile guys (most notably Kidd, but also Barkley early on, and then Shawn Bradley and...um, oops) but coming out of those mid-aught years as one of the more potent PGs in the pre-Nash monopoly era. That was a kind of stupid way of saying, Emeka's due his proof of potential met. Perhaps this trade opens that door for him.
48 Hour Film Project at Babylon in Berlin, originally uploaded by joaobambu.
Why he's #48: Even though he played second fiddle to Gerald Wallace's viola performace in Charlotte, and yes I said GW might not even be the second option on a quality contender, Emeka gains value for his use as a defensive anchor. He's not the out-of-the-building shot blocker G-dub, Birdman, or Superman are, but he does keep that ball out of the basket. Not convinced? Fax me. Better yet, drop it in my box. I got a stack of papers to grade, and none of them are written by a 6'10" Igbo Nigerian with a 3.8 GPA. Sigh.
