Jahlil Okafor is staring right at a career as a Los Angeles Laker. So, seeing as anyone who might be indirectly tied to the franchise has to answer this question, of course Okafor had some quotes about playing with Kobe Bryant.
This, via Kurt Helin:
Jahlil Okafor on potentially playing with Kobe: “I think I can learn a ton...I want to pick his brain and learn as much as I can."
— Kurt Helin (@basketballtalk) June 22, 2015
And then:
Jahlil Okafor on potentially playing with Kobe (part 2): “It’s all about he wants to win. So do I.”
— Kurt Helin (@basketballtalk) June 22, 2015
You know what’d be fun? If a player said playing with Kobe isn’t that big a deal, or if they mentioned dreading the day they get to be the target of his “Soft as Charmin” quotes.
-== Best Lakers Draft Pick & Free Agent Pairings ==-
So, potential Lakers XX: what do you think about playing alongside Kobe Bryant.
“Who? You mean that old guy who’s hardly played both two years and ago and last season? Nah. I mean, he’s there, so we’ll have to make it work. But by all accounts he’s probably gonna hate me as soon as I walk through the door. Not looking forward to that.”
Now THAT would be awesome. I mean, whoever says that would immediately forfeit any opportunity he might’ve had at being a Laker, but Twitter would explode. My phone would turn into simply a mushroom cloud.
Of course Okafor can’t wait to play with Kobe, for many kids his age, Bryant was more relevant than Jordan. Hell, even after writing all of that above this sentence, I’d LOVE to play with Kobe. Maybe only for about 2.4 seconds, but still.