Skip to content
Sixers
Link copied to clipboard

Jahlil Okafor provided a bodyguard

Jahlil Okafor will get the team provided protection he needs. ESPN reported that 19-year-old will be accompanied by a body guard whenever he goes out.

Jahlil Okafor will get the team-provided protection that he needs. 76ers coach Brett Brown confirmed Tuesday that 19-year-old will be accompanied by a bodyguard whenever he goes out.

The news came days after it was revealed that Okafor had been involved in two altercations while leaving nightclubs.

The 6-foot-11, 265-pound rookie had a gun pointed at his head on Oct. 4 near Second and Walnut Streets in Philadelphia, five people told The Inquirer. The suspect got away, according to a U.S. Park Service police report. Early Thursday morning, Okafor was involved in a fight outside the Storyville Nightclub in Boston's Back Bay, caught on video hours after Wednesday night's loss to the Boston Celtics.

In an unrelated incident, Okafor also received two citations after being pulled over for driving 108 m.p.h. on the Ben Franklin Bridge. He was cited for reckless driving and driving at an excessive rate of speed on Oct. 19.

"Soon the [team] will make some type of comment about the situation with Jah and what everybody's learned from that," Brown said. "[The bodyguard] could be one of the things that come out of the Jahlil situation."

The Sixers have been criticized for what some view as reactive responses to Okafor's situation. However, Brown said that the team has been proactive about educating young players on the dangers of hanging out late at night.

In New York on Oct. 11, Brown said, the Sixers showed players mug shots of athletes who got in trouble by hanging out late at night.

"To see it is disturbing," Brown said, "because they are seen in quite an unflattering environment."

Wroten's return

Tony Wroten said he would return from a torn right anterior cruciate ligament on Saturday against the Denver Nuggets. Brown would only say that the point guard is expected to return in "eight to 10 days." Wroten had season-ending surgery on Feb. 3

Family feud

The game Tuesday night paired Sixers reserve Phil Pressey against his father, Paul, an assistant with Los Angeles Lakers.