Jahlil Okafor's Attorney: Video Shows Okafor Is Not The Assailant
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- TMZ.com released the second video of Jahlil Okafor's fight outside of a Boston night club on Wednesday. In the video, a man was seen knocked out and the assailant---who is not visible in the video---was reportedly the Philadelphia 76ers' 19-year-old rookie center.
However, Okafor's attorney Andrew Smith says that report is false.
"Fortunately for us, and obviously Jahlil and the story that he told me came true, which was it wasn't him that hit him," Smith told the 94WIP Mike & Ike Show on Friday. "We were able to slow down the video to a 75-percent rate and when you do that, you clearly see there's another individual assailant who struck that person and knocked him out before Jahlil is even involved in the scene."
Listen: Andrew Smith on the 94WIP Mike & Ike Show
Smith admitted that the backstory of why the fight on November 25th started, remains unknown.
"What we don't know and what we're currently investigating is the event that transpired inside the night club," Smith said, "the event that transpired before someone pulled out their iPhone and started video tapping it."
In a separate incident, CSNPhilly.com reported that Okafor had a gun pointed at him outside of a Philadelphia night club in October.
"The incident in Philadelphia, that hasn't been fully investigated yet," Smith explained. "Obviously the police are involved in that because it's something that involved a firearm. My understanding is the individual pulled a gun on Jahlil while he ran away, the clip to the gun came out. I think there's some additional evidence they're trying to currently look at to make some determinations."
Smith did admit that Okafor will now face questions surrounding his character following these off-the-court incidents and the former Duke Blue Devil and third overall NBA draft pick will have to fix his image.
"The problem obviously that Jahlil faces, and it's an uphill battle is, he does have these two incidents that are closely related that kind of paint a picture that is not a pretty one. Certainly though, he's working to correct that image. Like I said, we're going to fully investigate and get to the bottom of what happened."
