Coach K calls Okafor a great kid, says Sixers need security

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski talked about Jahlil Okafor on Wednesday night after the Blue Devils' 94-74 victory over Indiana.

He defended the Sixers rookie who is serving a two-game suspension after a second video surfaced on TMZ.com of fighting with a heckler on a Boston street in the early hours last Thursday. Okafor spent last season at  Duke, helping lead the Blue Devils to the 2015 national championship.

Here's Coach K's comment:

"Jah is one of the great kids ever. Ever, ever, ever. And, you know, get into some situations - he needs to move on. They also need to have security. Like, when we're with the U.S. team, we have security for everybody because all of those guys are targets. You've just got to be smart about that. He was not. He apologized. He is being punished.

Look, anybody who pictures that kid as some bad kid, you've got to be kidding me. He is one of the most loving, good kids who has ever happened on this earth. But he did a couple stupid things. OK, knock him, suspend him, let's move on. But let's not characterize him as that. He is not that. That kid is a special, special human being. And he is a pretty damn good basketball player in addition, too."

Follow and contact 76ers Inquirer beat writer Keith Pompey on Twitter @PompeyOnTwitter and on Instagram at PompeyOnSixers