Entering the Indiana Mad Ants’ 119-107 road win over the Windy City Bulls on Sunday afternoon, Duke basketball product Jahlil Okafor was averaging a notably encouraging 17.7 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 3.3 assists across the first 12 games in the 28-year-old’s latest pursuit of a return to the NBA.
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Against Windy City, featuring 2020-21 Duke basketball one-and-done and Chicago Bulls two-way guard DJ Steward, Okafor topped each of those season averages. He delivered 23 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, and one block in only 23 minutes on the floor, shooting 9-for-13 from the field, 1-for-1 beyond the arc, and 2-for-3 at the line.
Steward, who is on a two-way contract for the first time in his career but has yet to make his NBA debut with the Chicago Bulls, posted 18 points and 12 assists for the Windy City Bulls (4-10) in the loss to Okafor and the Mad Ants (5-9), the Indiana Pacers’ G League affiliate.
Okafor, a Chicago native, has scored at least a dozen points in every outing except for his Nov. 9 season debut.
The 6-foot-10, 270-pound big man, who came off the board No. 3 overall at the 2015 NBA Draft after helping to power the fifth and final Duke basketball national championship in the Mike Krzyzewski era, has been out of the NBA since 2020-21 despite boasting career averages of 10.4 points and 4.7 rebounds in 247 regular season appearances.
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