At the end of the day, I know what my bread and butter is and how I can be effective.
Jahlil Okafor
My dad is the opposite of me. He's so outgoing and so loud.
Around sixth or seventh grade, I fell in love with Tim Duncan and his all-around game. That's when I started watching him. Then my father introduced me to Hakeem Olajuwon. Those were the two guys I modeled my game after.
In college, when you lose one game as a top team, it's like the end of the world.
When I found out that I'd been traded to Brooklyn - it was pretty much the best feeling in the world.
Coach K was fine with the way I played defense.
When I pictured myself in the NBA, I always imagined myself with an older guy taking me under his wing.
My rookie season, I wore 8 because I had wanted 15, but it's retired in Philadelphia. I had worn 15 in college.
That's always been my interest - things of the unknown.
Coming out of college, I got a lot of notoriety for being the old-school center.
I'm definitely not the caliber player that LeBron is, but I find it funny how people can criticize him and the way he plays the game. So it's pretty easy to criticize me if they are still able to criticize LeBron.
I love LeBron, but Kobe was the first player I actually considered my favorite.
Being in the city of New Orleans, meeting the people, it's been nothing but hospitality and a lot of love.
I remember my first camps when I was in high school, freshman year. I did a LeBron James camp, and I thought that was the coolest thing ever.
I've always been a Kobe fan; he's one of my favorite players.
I'd like to win Rookie of the Year.
I don't want to say why I should be picked over somebody. I just want to say why I should be picked for any team.
That's one of things I've heard about Brooklyn - how good they are at developing players.
I've talked to a bunch of big men who told me they didn't really start playing basketball until seventh or eighth grade. That wasn't the situation with me.
I've done this a couple times, been to a couple different camps and a couple different AAU practices to talk to kids. I tell them you have to be dedicated, have to decide if you want to be a serious basketball player or not. They always ask, 'What if you get discouraged?' You have to remember what your goal was in the first place.
You see a lot of guys in the NBA make dumb mistakes.
My main focus, my pride is right there on the block. That's where I've always played and my focus has always been.
My goal is to be the best. That's my thing I want to achieve - the best that I can be - and hopefully, that's the best player in the NBA.
I didn't think I was going to be doubled my first NBA game. I knew it would happen eventually, but I got off to a hot start, so as a result, I got double-teamed.
For as long as I remember, big men have dominated the NBA.
I've always been a basketball player. My earliest memories are of playing basketball. I was born playing it. It's why I'm so comfortable on the floor.
I just think that playing in a championship game and playing in every game in March Madness, that's just more time for critics to watch you and more time for them to nitpick at what you don't do well or what they feel you don't do well.
I pray to my mother before every game. She passed away when I was 9, but I always consider her my wings on the floor, my extra step, my extra focus, my extra everything, to watch over me when I'm on the court. It takes some pressure off you when you feel like you have your mother above watching you. And I always pray to God for guidance.
I became a better talker on the floor, being at Duke, being in leadership with Coach K, and I think I got better defensively as the season progressed.
I've had a lot of struggles in the NBA, so to have some type of success, it just feels good, and makes you want more.
When you're friends with somebody, it's really easy to tell them 'Help me do this; help me do that.' It's not an uncomfortable conversation.
People in New Orleans have been so supportive of me and the team. I love walking around here, because the people have been great.
Shaquille O'Neal was probably my favorite athlete growing up. I loved how dominant and unstoppable he was, but also his charisma off the court. He was someone I gravitated toward.
I'm a big fan of black uniforms.
Chicago is home for me.
My aunt, who plays the role of my mother now, she got her Ph.D.
My father has his master's degree. My uncle does as well.
I wasn't always a willing passer.
In eighth grade, I pretty much didn't want to pass. I was 6'8'.' I was always bigger and stronger. I was getting triple-teamed, and the results weren't good. I wasn't helping my team. I was forcing shots. Then I started passing it out to my team, and they started hitting shots and slashing, and that's when things opened up for me.
I'm just trying to get better each game.
Playing games and watching film, I've been able to see the improvements I can make and how much better I can be. It's exciting to think about it.
I definitely feel like I'm the scapegoat for a lot of The Process issues.
Speeding obviously is illegal. I know that's not what you're supposed to do.
I'm not a perfect player.
There are things that I need to work on, that I have worked on, and that I'll continue to work on.
I've always gotten credit for being a big man who doesn't want to shoot threes. Throughout my entire basketball career prior to coming to the NBA, I was praised for doing that.
I can score from 18 to 20 feet out, handle the ball, pass. I don't consider myself an old-school center.
I can play with my back to the basket, but I can face up as well.
I shoot all kinds of shots. I just don't stay on the block and do layups and dunks when I'm in the gym by myself.
I shoot a lot of bank shots and a lot of shots around the perimeter. There's a lot of things I like to work on, but I know my bread and butter when it comes down to it, and that's in the post.
