Big Jah, Big Problem

Big Jah, Big Problem

by Theo Williams

After losing another close game, this time to division rival Boston Celtics, 19 year old rookie phenom Jahlil Okafor decided to attend a Boston nightclub to blow off some steam. I can’t really blame the man for needing a drink after losing 16 straight games. Hell, welcome to how the rest of us feel watching the Sixers.  What happened next, as Coach Brown likes to remind the team “Nothing Good Happens After 3am!”  For those of you who were so deep in Thanksgiving preparations that you missed it, this story ends up on TMZ , with Jah fighting in the middle of the street like Ryu vs Sagat (HADOOOUUUKEN!!!!).  Those are the facts.  How things got to this point in the first place is a matter of debate. Big Jah says he was being heckled for losing 16 games in a row by a Boston fan; the fan says that Jah tried to scoop his woman, and was being disrespectful.

At first, I wasn’t bothered by this story one bit. Other than trying to figure out how he got in the club in the first place being 19 and all, but I’ll let the moralists fight that battle. However, the initial story of Jah being so upset at losing 16 games in a row, that he would do something as foolish to try and knock a fan out didn’t bother me because I like passion. Charles Barkley threw someone through a glass window and we love him, I think we can deal with a one hitter quitter causing a few stiches. Granted, he’s essentially 7 feet tall, hard to miss having a drink at a club in Boston, making him a prime target for hecklers. So common sense was certainly lacking, but he’s just young and some passion is good, right?… Right?

Le Sigh, this is what I get for trying to be an optimist. Almost as soon as the story broke about Jah trying to recreate the Boston Massacre on some guys face, reports began to surface about Jah getting in to another altercation, this time in Old City, right here in Philly. Difference is, this time when Jah decided that it was a good idea to punch a man through his car window, a gun ended up being pointed in his face. Ultimately, the gunman ended up being chased away by some Park Rangers, however, this story could have had a completely different outcome. What disturbs me the most isn’t necessarily the incidents themselves, rather I’m more concerned by the fact that it’s happened twice, within a matter of months. One would believe that as a professional athlete, once you get a gun pointed in your face in your own home city, the message should be sent that perhaps you should stay away from the club… Let me stop playing, we’re talking about a 19 year old who has the world at his feet, so I won’t be unrealistic here, however, at the very least Jah needs to learn how to walk away.

See, here’s the thing… Jahlil comes from a little city called Chicago. Have any of y’all ever heard of it? It goes by quaint little nickname of Chi-raq (as in Iraq), due to the violent nature of the city. I’d be willing to bet wings to cheesesteaks that there isn’t much that Big Jah hasn’t seen, and due to this fact, it probably takes a lot to scare him, let alone him backing down from some muppets running their mouths.  The problem is, as I had alluded to earlier, these scenarios could have turned out radically different. Philly is no slouch when it comes to violent crimes, especially with Camden sitting right across the bridge. What if that trigger had been pulled? We could have been mourning another Philly big man this season, or at the very least, seen the derailment of his early career. Fast forward a month or so, and this time the fight is in Boston. Lesson not learned. This time its caught on video, and now charges may be filed by the Boston PD, as well as possible discipline from the league and/or the Sixers.

Jahlil has been a pro for a month and a half, and already he’s had a gun pointed at him and has dropped a Big Show sized WMD on some guys face. I’m not saying that he’s out of control, buuuut, he kind of looks out of control, especially with the new reports that Jahlil was pulled over for doing 103 on the Ben Franklin. I’m just trying to figure out where this aggression is at when it comes to rebounding? See, here’s the thing. I believe a lot of the issues Jah has been getting in to, has to do with the fact that there is literally ZERO experienced leadership on that Sixers roster. Its basically like the high school kids telling the middle school kids how to behave in college, and with immaturity issues coming from Embiid first, and now Jahlil, we’re beginning to see what the ugly side looks like when you strip your team bare of veteran talent in hopes of landing, and stocking your roster exclusively of young talent. There’s no one there to show them how to be a pro, on and off the court, and no one there to reign in the massive ego’s and entitlement that accompany millennials who possess all the talent in the world.

Let me not be a hypocrite and explain that I was behind the Hinkie plan from the start, and even though my patience is waning, I am still (for the moment) behind the NBA 2K Hinkie plan. The problem is, without any veteran leadership to show these young players how to behave, how to react to hecklers, how to react to life on the road, how to react to the ladies chasing you all the time, how to react to losing 17 games in a row… perhaps this is the major glitch in the plan.

Look, I don’t profess to know what exactly Jah’s issue is. All I can do is try to interject some reasoning to the potential causes for a rook getting in to two potentially damaging scuffles within his first month or so as a pro. Its Sam Hinkie’s job to figure out what Jah’s issue is and how to resolve it, and he better get on it. Jahlil Okafor is the future of the Sixers and as bad as this team has looked, the Sixers cannot afford to lose another highly drafted big man over something berthed out of lack of personal control and immaturity.

Oh, who am I kidding? He’ll probably be traded by February…