The Philadelphia 76ers will definitely get a boost next season with their first-round pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, No. 3 overall center Jahlil Okafor, who believes big men are still key to winning a championship.
Last season, the NBA saw a kind of transition as guards shined and dominated the league.
It was justified when 2015 MVP point guard Stephen Curry led the Golden State Warriors to their first championship in four decades even though they did not have a prominent big man.
Okafor enjoyed watching Curry and the Warriors win the Larry O' Brien trophy but he believes the NBA is still a league ran by big men.
"For as long as I remember, big men have dominated the NBA. People got a little excited because of what Steph Curry did -- and he was fantastic. But as long as I remember, big men have been dominating and the results have been championships," Okafor said in a news conference Saturday.
In the conference, the 19-year-old also mentioned centers Tim Duncan and Hakeem Olajuwon to whom he patterned his game.
"Around sixth or seventh grade, I fell in love with Tim Duncan and his all-around game. That's when I started watching him," Okafor said.
He added, "Then my father introduced me to Hakeem Olajuwon. Those were the two guys I modeled my game after."
Okafor has proven in his one year with Duke last season that big men matter anchoring the Blue Devils to the NCAA championship as he averaged 17.3 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.4 blocks per game.
The Duke alumnus will join a young core of centers in Philadelphia with Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid who are both 21 years old.
The 76ers struggled last season although they were able to find their groove late, still they finished second to the last in the Eastern Conference with an 18-64 record.
