As the Sixers peddle Jahlil Okafor through the trade deadline Thursday, they must be grappling with the reality that, no matter how talented Okafor is, and no matter how leery they are of selling Joel Embiid’s insurance policy, one constant remains:
Okafor does not want to be in Philadelphia.
He never has. He never will. He doesn’t fit, and he knows it. He's a true Hinkie product: He's tanking himself.
This is a tough-guy city that revels in its Rocky Balboa persona. Dr. J choked Larry Bird. Allen Iverson took on Dennis Rodman. Charles Barkley fought Bill Laimbeer (and, for other towns, Shaq and Charles Oakley).