TOP 10 REASONS TO LOVE THE EMEKA OKAFOR TRADE
July 29, 2009



1. Okafor was 2nd in the NBA in offensive rebounds/game (3.4) and 5th overall (10.1). The Hornets finished 26th and 28th respectively in those categories last season.

2. Okafor has played every game for the last two NBA seasons (only one Hornet, Rasual Butler in 2008-2009, has played all 82 games the last two seasons).

3. Okafor has averaged a double double over the last five seasons (the only other players to do so are Tim Duncan and Dwight Howard).

4. Okafor averages a double double for his career (14 PPG/11 RPG) while Tyson Chandler has averaged a double double in just one season in the NBA.

5. Okafor’s contract ($10.6 million next season) is $1.1 million dollars less than Chandler’s ($11.7 million), giving the Hornets better value at the center position and saving the team additional money under the terms of the NBA’s luxury tax.

6. Okafor is one of the brightest players in the NBA, having completed his finance degree one year early at UCONN with a 3.8 GPA.

7. Okafor, is Nigerian, whose given name is Chukwuemeka. In Nigerian the name means “God has done great”.

8. Okafor is as impressive with his community initatives, having created the African initiative to save lives, with a goal to save one million lives over a five year period in sub-Sahara Africa.

9. Okafor was the NBA’s 2005 rookie-of-the-year…giving the Hornets two starters who claimed that award this decade (chris paul, 2006).

10. Okafor has a Facebook page that is having a hard time containing all the well wishers from New Orleans.