The Philadelphia 76ers' rookie Jahlil Okafor is an impressive player on the court. However, a reckless driving incident plus an off-the-court scuffle in Boston have given the Sixers no choice but to slap the rookie with a two-game suspension.
The management of the Philadelphia 76ers has decided to give "hard love" to their rookie by not allowing him to play for the next two games. Okafor, on his part, has already offered an apology for his off-the-court controversies. Yet, there are still talks that he might be taken out entirely off the team, as CBS Sports reported.
"Jahlil is a very important part of our organization and our future. While we are disappointed with his recent actions, we have faith in him as a valued member of the Sixers. We will provide the necessary resources to support him on his journey and will do our part to help him succeed both on and off the court," the Sixers management stated.
As the publication noted, the team has invested in Okafor not only as a player but also as a person, so helping him to stay away from these incidents is a crucial part of the situation. Giving him proper counseling for good behaviour or surrounding him with security when he is out at night are just some of the things that they may do. Abandoning him is not an option for the team; thus, they want to make sure that he is learning from his mistakes and avoid them in the future.
Coach Brett Brown added, "Let's make our point. It is hard love. There have been mistakes that have been made, he does own it," he said. "Nobody's proud of this right now and so we will support him, he's ours and we will move on," according to the official NBA website.
Before the suspension was handed down to Okafor, the team had discussed everything with the rookie's representative as well as the NBA governing body with regards to the situation. However, Coach Brown is not sure if there will be additional punishment coming from the league.
