Interview with the player - Emeka Okafor(Charlotte Bobcats)

African Sports blog had the pleasure of interviewing Charlotte Bobcats power forward Emeka Okafor as he swung through the Southern tip of the United States with his Charlotte Bobcats team. We asked Emeka a mix of questions just to get a feel for him beyond what's already out there. Enjoy.

A.S. Where in Nigeria are your folks from?
E.O. Anambra State.

A.S. How many times have you been back?
E.O. I've been back three times.


A.S. What are your impressions of the Country?
E.O. The economy is messed up,
people are nice but the place could be a lot better than what
it is right now. We have enough natural resources that should
have enabled the country to get into a much better economic
situation than it currently is in.

A.S. What do you think it's gonna take to grow and take
Basketball even further in Nigeria?
E.O. Time and organization. They need spots for people to play.

A.S. Did you ever consider playing for the Nigerian national team?
Did the Basketball federation ever approach you about playing for the team?
E.O. They did but I can't really remember what happened.
I think there was an issue with the time frame.
I think I was coming back from an injury, I can't quite
remember what happened.

A.S. What's your favorite Nigerian meal?
E.O. Favorite Nigerian meal... Plantain, Pottage, Ogbono and Egusi soup.

[Editors note: Bobcats Center Nazr Mohammed (whose parents are Ghanaian) interjects and acknowledges the greatness of Egusi soup as well as Jollof Rice but things go awry when Nazr brings Kenkey into the mix as neither the interviewer nor Emeka have experienced Kenkey, but we end on a high as all acknowledge the tastiness of Puff-Puff(Traditional round doughnuts):]

A.S. What sports did you grow up playing besides Basketball?
E.O. Baseball, Soccer and I ran track.

A.S. What was your parents reaction when you began focusing intently on Basketball later on in your High school years?
E.O. They were cool, as long as I kept up with my academics.
My dad really liked Baseball, he wanted me to play Baseball.

A.S. You were a Finance major at UConn, graduated in three years,
any thoughts on the current Economic crisis as well as the
state that the major Investment Banks have fallen into
like Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns.
E.O. That's basically what happens when people get greedy,
eventually it'll come down.

A.S. How did you decide among the numerous worthy causes
on what to dedicate the focus of your foundation
(One million African Lives)?
E.O. I just decided to
tackle one thing at a time. You just gotta pick
something and go from there.

A.S. Favorite sport outside of Basketball?
E.O. I like Football(American).

A.S. Favorite athlete outside of Basketball?
E.O. Favorite athlete...I gotta go with Tiger man. I like what he's done.
I'm kinda working on my Golf game.

A.S. Favorite video game to play?
E.O. I'm on that Call of Duty right now. I play Madden and I
like a little Fifa. I don't really play with the
clubs I usually use the countries.
[Emeka and I bemoan the exclusion of Nigeria in recent Fifa games]

A.S. Are you still a Madden fiend?
E.O. Nah I'm not as big a Madden fiend as some other people.
If I go online I still get my butt whooped.

A.S. Favourite show on TV to watch when you have a little downtime?
E.O. The Simpsons and Family Guy.
[Argument ensues as I try to convince Emeka that Family Guy has jumped the Shark but it comes to naught as he is a staunch Family Guy supporter]

E.O. Favorite city in Europe
A.S. Saint Tropez was fun man

A.S. You're known for being an avid reader, what are you reading lately?
E.O. I've fallen off my reading, I'm telling you man I gotta get back to my reading.

A.S. Thanks a lot Emeka and have a great season.