Sun-Times: Is Jahlil Okafor the 'best' player ever from Chicago?

[Tugg Speedman]

Is Jahlil Okafor the 'best' player ever from Chicago?

Posted: 04/10/2015, 05:19pm | Dan Cahill

http://chicago.suntimes.com/basketball/7/71/514215/jahlil-okafor-best-player-ever-chicago

A father has every right to be proud of his son, especially when his name is Jahlil Okafor. The Whitney Young grad led Duke to the National Championship this week and declared for the NBA Draft.

TMZ Sports caught up with Chukwudi Okafor, who gave the news organization this exclusive about Jahlil’s place in Chicago basketball: “My son’s absolutely the most decorated player ever from the city. Not many people can say that. Actually, not one other person can say that.”

Hmm.

The TMZ headline read: “Jahlil Okafor GREATEST CHICAGO HOOPER EVER … says dad”

Well, that’s not really what his father said, but we know what they mean. Just as we know what they mean by “hooper” and not “hoopster.”

It’s probably too early in his career to debate “greatest Chicago” player, but let’s take a closer look at “most decorated player ever.”

At 19, Okafor has an IHSA championship, NCAA title, multiple high school player of the year awards, McDonald’s and Jordan all-star game MVPs, a first-team NCAA all-America honor and three FIBA championships. He was not college player of the year; that went to Frank Kaminsky of Lisle, a suburb just outside of Chicago. Okafor will likely be the No. 1 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft. Pretty solid.

It would be tough for anyone to match that, right?

What about Jabari Parker?

The four-time high school champion from Simeon, also won high school player of the year honors, was a Jordan game MVP, an NCAA all-America, National Freshman of the Year, has two FIBA gold medals and was the second pick of the NBA Draft. Not shabby.

Anthony Davis? A relative unknown, shot up the ranks of recruiting lists as he grew at Perspectives Charter High School. Won pretty much every award there was to win in his one year at Kentucky, including an NCAA Championship and tournament’s outstanding player. Add to that an Olympic and World Cup gold medals. Already a two-time NBA all-star in this third year, he’s a sure-fire MVP soon.

Derrick Rose? The two-time high school champion at Simeon came up a free-throw short of winning the NCAA Championship. He was a first-team NCAA all-America. He has two gold medals in FIBA World Cup play. Oh, and there was that 2011 NBA MVP.

Dwyane Wade? Well, he didn’t really do much at Richards, but he came on strong at Marquette, making third-team all-America. Then, he added 11 NBA all-star appearances, three NBA Championships, an NBA Championship MVP and an Olympic Gold Medal.

We will leave Kevin Garnett out of the discussion because he played just one season in Chicago at Farragut.

Isiah Thomas? The St. Joseph guard never won a high school title, and still regrets it. He did, however, win NCAA, NBA and Pan American championships. Toss in the NCAA Tournament outstanding player, 12 NBA all-star appearances, two NBA all-star MVPs, one NBA Finals MVP and a member of the NBA’s 50th anniversary team. He’s also in the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Should we go on? Let’s.

Mark Aguirre? The Westinghouse star never won a high school championship, but he did win several college player of the year awards while at DePaul. Aquirre was the No. 1 pick of the 1981 NBA Draft. He made three all-star teams and won two championships in the NBA.

Quinn Buckner? Some still consider him the greatest high school player in Illinois. After winning two state titles at Thornridge, Buckner went on to win an NCAA Championship with Indiana in 1976, an Olympic gold medal the same year and an NBA Championship with Boston in 1984. He’s one of only three players (Magic Johnson and Jerry Lucas) to do so.

We could keep going, but I think you get the point. While Okafor is off to a great start and just might surpass all of Chicago’s greatest, it is a bit premature to crown him.

Now, had his dad said, “no player from Chicago has a more decorated Wikipedia Page,” there would be no argument. Okafor’s Wikipedia page is almost 20 pages long and has 277 references. By comparison, Michael Jordan’s is 23 pages with 206 references.

[onepost]

Dude, I haven't thought to mention it up to this point, but stop starting these threads.  One little Dwyane Wade tidbit in a Jahlil Okafor article doesn't warrant posting it.  We all realize it's the tail-end of the quiet part of the offseason but come on already.

[jesmu84]

superbar

[Tugg Speedman]

What I love about these discussions of "the best" is how the recency effect dominates.  

To me the answer is simple ... George Mikan, from Joliet and Depaul.  He played for Depaul from 1942 to 1946  and was voted the greatest basketball of the first half of the 20th century.

And how about Kevin Garnett?  While from South Carolina played his senior year of high school at Farragut Academy.

And while we are at it, how about Mo Cheeks, Doc Rivers, Tim Hardaway, Johnny 'Red" Kerr, Cazzie Russell, Nate “Sweetwater” Clifton, Bo Ellis, Dan Issel, and George Wilson?  Do you not count them because they played before everyone was born and most of their highlights are grainy black & white videos?

[brandx]

Ridiculous proposition.

I'm sorry, but anyone who calls Okafor the best ever from Chicago (or even starts a post about it) is not a basketball fan and knows nothing about the game.

There are arguments that can be made for several different players. Okafor is not even on the list.

[dgies9156]

Bo Ellis and Jerome Whitehead (Waukegan) get my votes!!!!!

[Dawson Rental]

Dude, I haven't thought to mention it up to this point, but stop starting these threads.  One little Dwyane Wade tidbit in a Jahlil Okafor article doesn't warrant posting it.  We all realize it's the tail-end of the quiet part of the offseason but come on already.

Evidently, you're not from Illinois.  Fine.  Pick another thread.

[MuMark]

Nobody should insult Wade by saying he was a 3rd team All American.......http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_NCAA_Men's_Basketball_All-Americans

[MU82]

Anybody can claim anything. That doesn't mean anybody is right.

I don't know if Okafor is the most "decorated" because I'm not even sure what decorated means. Does he have the most boxer shorts decorated with flowers and smiley faces?

But I do have 100% certainty that Okafor is not the best player ever from Chicago, and I also know that it's not particularly close.

On a scale of 0-10, with Isiah and Wade at 10 and my son at 0, Okafor maybe is a 6 or so right now. And he has a lot of work to do to move up to 7 or 8.

Hell, another Chicago product, Frank Kaminsky, dominated him less than a week ago, and I don't think many would argue that Kaminsky is a 7 or 8.

Although one could argue that the National POY is quite "decorated"!

[77ncaachamps]

Okafor.

What a joke.

Frank the Tank showed better NBA promise in the Final than Jahlil did.

[MuMark]

Frank is 3 years older then Okafor............Compare Frank 4 years ago to Okafor now and it is no contest.

[Tugg Speedman]

Good point here ...

For Okafor to be the best ever from Chicago,  shouldn't he have been the best Chicago player in the finals?   That distinction went to Kaminsky

[GGGG]

Good point here ...

For Okafor to be the best ever from Chicago,  shouldn't he have been the best Chicago player in the finals?   That distinction went to Kaminsky

Saying Kaminsky is from Chicago is like saying Jamil Wilson is from Milwaukee.

[Tugg Speedman]

Saying Kaminsky is from Chicago is like saying Jamil Wilson is from Milwaukee.

Lisle is a Chicago suburbs = Chicago

[GGGG]

Lisle is a Chicago suburbs = Chicago

Racine is in the suburbs of Milwaukee.

[MU82]

Racine is in the suburbs of Milwaukee.

I don't know if this is an accepted fact or not.

I do know that Lisle is considered part of "Chicagoland," as are Naperville, Grayslake and Woodstock. I would consider any of those players from any of those environs to be Chicago-area players.

So I guess it comes down to whether we are talking only about Chicago proper or all of Chicagoland. And then are we saying the kid has to be from Chicago, the school has to be in Chicago or both.

For example, Maywood is not the same as Chicago, so does that eliminate Rivers from the discussion?

[Tugg Speedman]

I don't know if this is an accepted fact or not.

I do know that Lisle is considered part of "Chicagoland," as are Naperville, Grayslake and Woodstock. I would consider any of those players from any of those environs to be Chicago-area players.

So I guess it comes down to whether we are talking only about Chicago proper or all of Chicagoland. And then are we saying the kid has to be from Chicago, the school has to be in Chicago or both.

For example, Maywood is not the same as Chicago, so does that eliminate Rivers from the discussion?

Isiah is being consider and St. Joesph is in Westchester and not Chicago.  Ditto Quinn Buckner who played in Thornridge, which is also not the city of Chicago.

So I think they mean Chicagoland.

Is Joliet part of Chicago?  Is so, stop the discussion as the greatest player ever was George Mikan, voted the greatest basketball player of the first half of the 20th century.

[MU82]

Isiah is being consider and St. Joesph is in Westchester and not Chicago.  Ditto Quinn Buckner who played in Thornridge, which is also not the city of Chicago.

So I think they mean Chicagoland.

Is Joliet part of Chicago?  Is so, stop the discussion as the greatest player ever was George Mikan, voted the greatest basketball player of the first half of the 20th century.

I agree with you about geography.

As for Mikan, he obviously is in the team picture of this discussion. But I think a thing or three has happened to change the very essence of basketball since the first half of the 20th century.

My vote would go to Isiah, but several others also merit considerable consideration.

And Okafor would not be among those several others!

[Galway Eagle]

Isiah is being consider and St. Joesph is in Westchester and not Chicago.  Ditto Quinn Buckner who played in Thornridge, which is also not the city of Chicago.

So I think they mean Chicagoland.

Is Joliet part of Chicago?  Is so, stop the discussion as the greatest player ever was George Mikan, voted the greatest basketball player of the first half of the 20th century.

Isaiah was from the actual city though, plenty of west side phenoms commute to St Joseph's. I think there's a major difference though between saying Maywood, which is still very urban, is part of the city vs saying Joliet or even Lisle is part of the city. 

To me once there's drive ways instead of alleys and there's Pace instead of CTA it's no longer the city. 

[brandx]

I agree with you about geography.

As for Mikan, he obviously is in the team picture of this discussion. But I think a thing or three has happened to change the very essence of basketball since the first half of the 20th century.

My vote would go to Isiah, but several others also merit considerable consideration.

And Okafor would not be among those several others!

If it's just HS, I would list Thomas, Aguirre, and Buckner as the top three with Rivers, Cummings, Teddy Grubbs, Derrick Rose, Marcus Liberty, Juwan Howard, and Cazzie Russell the next group.

Of course, we would be remiss to not include Brian Wardle - the man and the Legend.

[Bo Ryan's Massage Therapist]

Personally I go with either Kevin Garnett or Isaiah Thomas

[DegenerateDish]

Ben Wilson was the best Chicago high school basketball player ever.

[buckchuckler]

Isaiah was from the actual city though, plenty of west side phenoms commute to St Joseph's. I think there's a major difference though between saying Maywood, which is still very urban, is part of the city vs saying Joliet or even Lisle is part of the city. 

To me once there's drive ways instead of alleys and there's Pace instead of CTA it's no longer the city. 

To draw a distinction between St. Joe's and Benet seems a little silly to me.  There isn't too much difference between Westchester and Lisle.  Pretty sure a few years back when I was in HS, they were in the same conference, and if not, the at least played each other pretty regularly.

Chicago claims the suburban kids when it benefits them, but when the burbs claim any affiliation to the city the city people get huffy.  I think it is kind of funny.

[Dr. Blackheart]

http://www.choosechicago.com/blog/post/2013/02/Homegrown-Talent-Chicago-s-All-Time-Greatest-Basketball-Players/584/

A good list of Chicago all time talent. In recent years, more and more of the talent is coming from the burbs.  MU is off the radar in Chicago.

[Tugg Speedman]

http://www.choosechicago.com/blog/post/2013/02/Homegrown-Talent-Chicago-s-All-Time-Greatest-Basketball-Players/584/

A good list of Chicago all time talent. In recent years, more and more of the talent is coming from the burbs.  MU is off the radar in Chicago.

How does one conclude from this that MU is off the radar in Chicago?