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Emeka Okafor, out since 2013-14 with back woes, attempts a comeback
When it was announced that Emeka Okafor would sit the entire 2013-14 season due to a herniated disc, it was mostly assumed that the former No. 2 overall pick would eventually make his way back to the NBA in time. Yes, he’d just turned 31 and his production wasn’t exactly All-Star quality pre-injury, but if Okafor’s dedication was there, should the big man be around for 2014-15?
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Or 2015-16, even?
As it stands, Okafor hasn’t played an NBA game since tossing in four points and collecting two boards in nearly ten minutes of action in Washington’s five point loss to an Andray Blatche-starting Brooklyn Nets team on April 15, 2013. A month before his 34th birthday, however, the former double-double machine appears anxious to suit up for one last go.
From Jackie MacMullan at ESPN.com:
“He’s probably five or six months away,” [agent Jeff] Schwartz said. “He’s been working hard rehabbing. For some guys that means one thing. To Emeka, who understands his body as well or better than some trainers that have worked with him, it means something else. He’s healthy. He feels great, but he’s a perfectionist, and he wants everything to be right.”
MacMullan reported that Okafor wants to join “a contending team” sometime this winter. Understandable, as Emeka only got to take part in six playoff games (in one postseason, during 2011 with New Orleans) in his nine year career.
The man he worked best under, former University of Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun, defended Okafor’s nearly mid-30s merits:
“He’s in great shape,” Calhoun said. “He had offers last season from teams for $6-7 million to play just a portion of the season, but you have to know Emeka. He’s only coming back when he feels the time is right.
“He’s not going to make a decision based on money. He doesn’t need it. This is a kid who graduated with a 3.9 GPA. He wants to play a couple more years then go to business school at Harvard. He’s only going to play for a contending team.”
That’d be nice. For once.
The Orlando Magic, in what was reported by some to be a daring move at the time, chose high school senior Dwight Howard first overall over Okafor in the 2004 NBA draft, preferring the prep prospect to the three-year NCAA standout. Okafor went to the Charlotte Bobcats in that team’s expansion season and won the league’s Rookie of the Year award over Howard and Sixth Man Award winner Ben Gordon, but the Bobcats stayed mostly awful during his time with the team. Okafor averaged 14 points, nearly 11 rebounds and two blocks with the fledgling franchise.
Dealt to New Orleans in 2009, back and ankle woes dimmed his effectiveness for the bulk of his time with the then-Hornets. Washington, unable to use its amnesty clause on Rashard Lewis after using it on the aforementioned Andray Blatche, was able to get some 2012 roster relief for Lewis in dealing him to NOLA in exchange for Okafor and swingman Trevor Ariza.
Okafor was supposed to be the team’s veteran relief at center, working for a squad that had to start JaVale McGee for 40 of the NBA’s 66 games the season before. He turned in one solid season of 9.7 points, 8.8 rebounds and a block in 27 minutes, but would last just one season in Washington – the Wizards dealt him and a draft pick to Phoenix after both teams learned he would be out for the season, in exchange for his replacement in Marcin Gortat.
Two full seasons out of the league, two back surgeries, and a 33rd birthday in September. Still, Emeka Okafor’s sound defensively play (which lasted into his Washington year), intelligence and obvious physical attributes would at least be worth a look for a contender, right? Of which there are two, now?
You rarely see general managers go as candidly as this on record, and San Antonio Spurs R.C. Buford certainly isn’t saying anything cross or out of turn here, but he did lay it out for the Basketball Hall of Famer in MacMullan:
“We always pay attention to whatever is out there,” Buford said. “But Emeka is three years removed from a time when his body was letting him down.
“It’s just hard to get enough information to evaluate a player like that, who won’t be in training camp, who hasn’t had game action for a prolonged period of time.”
This will be a roadblock.
One would think that, 42 months separating his last NBA game and the first exhibition games of 2016-17, that Emeka Okafor’s significant back woes would either have more than enough time to mend, or they’d be written off as career-ending. Yes, Calhoun did claim that Okafor received salary offers for around the league’s average yearly deal to play in 2015-16, but Jim Calhoun has said a whole lot of stuff in his day.
That Emeka Okafor would still need until around midseason after two and a half NBA seasons and three offseasons off is a little unsettling. Worse off are his prospects: Golden State is already at 14 roster spots, Buford basically just told the press he wouldn’t want to drop him into coach Gregg Popovich’s lap midseason, and the Cavaliers’ luxury tax woes make adding even minimum salaried guys quite the investment.
We’re giving Emeka Okafor’s comeback the benefit of the doubt because of what we haven’t seen – specifically, Emeka Okafor’s ability to play professional-level basketball in the wake of what could be a debilitating surgery. Let’s see how this all fleshes out, once the frost hits.
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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at KDonhoops@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
