If I went back in time and told the past version of DTB who was alive in 2016 that, in the year 2019, I would not only be making a Jahlil Okafor 17-point highlight video, but I would be excited about it, the past version of me would laugh in my face. Straight up laughter. Or he would panic because me being in possession of a time machine means that I’m inevitably going to attempt to repair my fractured relationship with Jennifer. But he would at least probably laugh at my Jahlil Okafor anecdote before he started panicking.
And, I mean, why shouldn’t he laugh? Okafor averaged seventeen points per game as a rookie. Sure, his advanced stats were poor and he was taking advantage of a talent-starved roster in Philadelphia, but 17/7 on 50% shooting is no joke for a 20-year-old rookie. At the time, everybody was thinking that was the baseline of the Jahlil Okafor experience. He would either continue putting up those numbers or he would improve on those numbers. Now, with the benefit of hindsight, we can see clearly why things went sideways for Okafor, but people in 2016 didn’t have that hindsight. They only had foresight, and that foresight was telling them that Okafor could at least fill the “20 PPG scorer on a bad team as the number one option” role.
Why did Jennifer leave me. Why. Why. Why.
Why.