Okafor embarrassed, calls actions dumb

HOUSTON – Jahlil Okafor said his involvement in a fight outside a Boston nightclub early Thursday was "dumb" and "embarrassing."

In a video obtained and published by TMZ.com, Okafor is seen shouting at several individuals before shoving a man to the ground.  The 6-foot-11, 265-pounder then punched a man who appeared to be the same person he had pushed, knocking that individual to the pavement.  Okafor could be heard shouting, 'We got money, you broke ass [expletive]."

The incident started because he and teammate Christian Wood, who was present, were being heckled by Boston fans over the Sixers' struggles.

"It was definitely dumb on my part," Okafor said Friday of the incident.  "It's something that I am embarrassed about." He added that he was "still dealing with the league and the team. But I'm not happy about it at all. But we are still going through the process of what we are going to do."

Okafor said he told Sixers coach Brett Brown about the altercation Thursday afternoon when he was boarding the plane to Houston.

The fight took place outside Storyville Nightclub, in Boston. It occurred hours after the Sixers lost, 84-80, to the Boston Celtics at TD Garden on Wednesday night. The loss dropped them to 0-16  this season and tied the NBA record for consecutive losses with 26.

The 19-year-old will play in Friday night's game against the Houston Rockets.

The altercation began after someone outside the nightclub yelled at Okafor: 'The 76ers suck.' The third overall pick out of Duke acknowledged that the losing was starting to get to him a little bit.

"We are all staying together, working extremely hard," he said. "We are coming in every day at shootaround, and we keep coming up a little short. We get close.

"So it does get a little frustrating to hear it all the time that we are 0-and-whatever. So it's definitely frustrating."

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