When it comes to basketball, Emeka Okafor has excelled at all levels. At the University of Connecticut, he led the Huskies to the 2004 NCAA Championship. That feat earned him the Most Oustanding Player honors and the 2004 Co-National Player of the Year honors from the NABC. By the time he entered the NBA draft and was selected with the number two pick by the Charlotte Bobcats, Okafor had amassed 1,402 points (13.7 ppg), 1,076 rebounds (10.5 rpg) and 441 blocked shots (4.3 bpg) at UConn. He became only the fourth UConn player to surpass 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds and he's ranked the seventh all-time shot-blocker in NCAA history.
In the NBA, Okafor earned the NBA got milk? Rookie of the Year Award for the 2004-05 season, leading all rookies with averages of 15.1 points and 10.9 rebounds in 35.6 minutes. He was one of only eight players in the league to average a double-double. His efforts ranked third in the NBA with 3.8 offensive rebounds, fourth with 10.9 rebounds and 47 double-doubles and 14th with 1.7 blocks in his first season.
When he's not dazzling fans in Charlotte and across the U.S. with his on-court skills, Okafor is playing videogames. His college prowess earned him the cover status of EA Sports' NCAA March Madness 2005. The NBA pro took some time to talk to SportsGamer about videogames.
Have you been playing videogames over the years?
Yes I have.
What systems have you had?
The first system I had was the Nintendo and the first game was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I loved that game. I pretty much have owned every system except for the Sega Saturn. I had Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Genesis, PlayStation, PS2 and now I have the PS3 and Xbox 360.
Were there any particular games that you really liked back in the day?
Tecmo Super Bowl. That game was awesome. First game with fumbles, interceptions, injuries…the players would get better ratings if you played well consistently and they'd run faster and player better. If you played badly their ratings would go down and they'd suck.
What's it like for you now to see these next generation games?
You don't notice as drastic a change because they've been coming gradually with every new game system. Unless you go from Super Nintendo to Xbox 360, you don't really notice this huge difference.
What's it like to see yourself to see yourself in high definition in the NBA videogames?
It's cool. What I'm particularly impressed by is how they get our motions and the way everyone runs and stops. That's what impresses me, because in the game, I really do run that way or shoot that way. They managed that pretty well.
Do you go in and check out all the new things your character can do in the new NBA games?
One of my buddies always goes out and gets the new NBA videogames and I'll fumble around with it and check out to see what my player ratings are and see what they have me doing.
Since you do spend some time with EA Sports, at least today, do you ever ask if your player could get a better rating in the next game?
No. Not this season. (Laughs.)
You know, those NFL players are always checking in with EA their Madden player ratings.
I should, probably. But I know they have enough problems to deal with so I'll jut let it slide. (Laughs.)
What do you like about the new March Madness 07 game?
I like the fact that this is the first game that actually has a home court advantage. The crowd actually gets into the game and they can affect the home team for better. They can make the visiting team play worse. And there's great fan/player interaction, too.
Do you have a preference when it comes to college versus NBA videogames?
It doesn't really matter. I like to switch it up and keep things fresh. It's just however I'm feeling that day.
Who do you like to play as?
I like to play random teams. In the NCAA, of course I like to play as UConn. In NBA, I just play whatever.
What was it like for you to be on the cover of the March Madness game in 2005?
It was pretty cool. All of my friends and high school buddies got a kick out of it. As a kid, you never really think about being on the front of a videogame box. But when it happens, that's pretty neat.
Now you're actually in the games every year.
Yeah, that's pretty nice.
That must be cool as a gamer, to be in the NBA videogames.
It's cool. It was a lot cooler at first. This is like year four, so the thrill is gone, you know? But when it first happened, it was like, "Oh Wow, look at that!"
What do you like to play now?
I like playing Halo. I'm in the middle of X-Men Legends 1 and now I have X-Men Legends II that I have to play through. I play Call of Duty 3 from time to time. I tried Gears of War. I don't like the controls for that, man. You have to press A to do everything.
Do you play Xbox Live?
Yeah. I've been playing on Halo and everybody's too damn good. On Madden, I don't think I can get the right forums. The people I play against aren't very good and they quit halfway through the game.
They get penalized for doing that.
Or the people will be on their own three yard line and they'll go for it on 4th and 28 yards. I'm like, come on, dude.
Do you have a particular team you like to play as on Madden?
The Panthers. If all else fails, throw to Steve Smith.
