Rumors

Earlier this week, Stephon Castle spent a day fighting fire and promoting safe home-cooking habits as part of USAA's Huddle Up for Home Fire Prevention and Safety campaign. Castle, the San Antonio Spurs' guard who recently joined Emeka Okafor as the only two former Huskies to cop NBA Rookie of the Year honors, extinguished a controlled home kitchen fire on Tuesday at the San Antonio Fire Department Training Academy.

CTInsider.com

HoopsHype: American players with multiple DNPs at the Olympics this century: Emeka Okafor Harrison Barnes Jerami Grant Keldon Johnson JaVale McGee Tyrese Haliburton Jayson Tatum

x.com

Okafor remembers Green having a coach-like influence on him during the ’10-11 season – even though Green is only 14 months older than Okafor. “He was big on giving words of encouragement that were uplifting,” Okafor said of conversations with Green. “He always came to me (before games) and said, ‘Hey Mek, with this (Hornets) team, the more energy you have, the better you do and the better the team does. When you do well, we all do well.’ He’d be in my ear about that.”

NBA.com

They are hosting an invitation-only camp from June 20 to June 23 including players currently in college, in the G League and internationally. Sources said it could also include former NBA players Emeka Okafor, Festus Ezeli and Ben Uzoh. Current NBA players are expected to join Nigeria’s training camp on June 27.

The Undefeated

Sarah Todd: #Sixers are waiving Emeka Okafor, Darin Johnson and Cory Jefferson

Twitter

Fred Katz: Emeka Okafor’s deal with the 76ers is a non-guaranteed minimum, per a source.

Twitter

Kyle Neubeck: ‼️BIG SIXERS NEWS‼️ The team is bringing back Emeka Okafor on a training camp deal

Twitter

Derek Bodner: #Sixers announce training camp roster, which includes Emeka Okafor filling that 20th roster spot. Because there must always be an Okafor.

Twitter

The New Orleans Pelicans announced today that the team has requested waivers on center Emeka Okafor. Okafor, 6-10, 252, appeared in 26 regular season games last season with New Orleans after signing with the team on February 3, 2018 and finished the season with averages of 4.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game.

NBA.com

Bobby Marks: The Pelicans have waived veteran Emeka Okafor. The veteran had $0 protection that would have increased to $100K guaranteed if he was on the roster past Sept. 21. The $100K in protection originally had a July trigger date but was amended this summer.

Twitter

Marc J. Spears: The Pelicans have requested waivers on center Emeka Okafor. Okafor has previously told @TheUndefeated that he wants to continue his NBA career after returning from a lengthy hiatus last season.

Twitter

Bobby Marks: New Orleans also has 2 players, DeAndre Liggins ($75K) and Emeka Okafor ($100K) that have a Sept. 1 date to guarantee a small part of their contract.

Twitter

When you decided to go to the G League, did you think returning to the NBA was truly possible? Emeka Okafor: That is why I did it. My mindset from the moment I was injured was trying to get back and just see the process through. If I went through the G League and didn’t get called up, I would have been like, ‘OK. I know I tried.’ I could rest easy. I did what I had to do. The whole purpose was to make it back to the NBA.

The Undefeated

What would you have thought of your NBA career if you had not come back? Emeka Okafor: It’s professional sports. I made it. My mind was like, ‘Mek, you didn’t accomplish everything you wanted to accomplish, but at the end of the day you made it. Anybody would switch positions with you in a heartbeat.’ There was that rational side of my brain. And then there was the competitive side that says, ‘Hey, Mek, you haven’t done X, Y and Z. And because you haven’t done X, Y and Z, you have to try. And if you try and fail, that is OK. But not trying, that is not going to cut it.

The Undefeated