Philadelphia 76ers

Jahlil Okafor: No way to prepare for a season of losing

Published Oct. 13, 2015 3:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

If you're a good enough basketball player to be the third overall pick in the NBA Draft, then chances are you've been on extremely successful teams for the majority of your adult basketball life.

Things usually change immediately during a first season in the NBA, however, because teams with the top draft picks are the ones that finished the previous year near the bottom of the league-wide standings.

That's expected to be the case again this year in Philadelphia, as the 76ers continue their extended rebuilding process. Jahlil Okafor will be the latest great college player to attempt to make the adjustment, and while he knows there will be likely be more losing than winning in store during the upcoming season, he told ESPN's Scoop Jackson that it's something which will be difficult to truly anticipate.

Scoop: From high school at Whitney Young to Duke, you are used to winning. Some people say the Sixers will lose a lot. I'm not going to predict that, at least not to your face, but are you prepared for the toll a lot of losses may take on you, especially since you haven't had to deal with that before?

Okafor: There's no way I can really prepare for it. I've just been getting advice from my coaches, prior coaches, Coach K [Mike Krzyzewski] Coach Ty [Slaughter], on keeping a winning mentality. I mean, if we do end up struggling this year, just stay positive, keep trying to do well, keep trying to play well, try to keep the team together. That's the best way I know how to prepare for it, and that's what I'm doing.