New Orleans Pelicans: 30 greatest players in franchise history

Emeka Okafor enjoyed quite the career in the NBA. Once as the centerpiece for the then-Charlotte Bobcats then in 2009-10, when he was traded by the Bobcats to New Orleans for Tyson Chandler.

He arrived in New Orleans after putting up 14.0 points, 10.7 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game and won the 2004-05 NBA Rookie of the Year award as a member of the Bobcats. He was traded during a time when his value was at his highest.

Okafor appeared in all 82 games during his first season (2009-10) with the Hornets, producing 10.4 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per contest. While he didn’t achieve career-high numbers, he showed flashes of his abilities as a force in the paint, racking up 27 double-doubles, his personal-best with New Orleans.

During the 2010-11 NBA season, his double-double total dropped to 23, but he averaged 10.3 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per contest, as the Hornets made the NBA Playoffs. New Orleans fell in the first round to the Los Angeles Lakers, as Okafor produced 7.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.0 steals and 1.0 blocks per game in the first-ever playoff appearance of his career.

The next season, he missed the final 39 games of the season due to a season-ending knee injury. Okafor averaged 9.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game through 207 appearances with the Hornets. He ranks seventh in franchise history in total rebounds (1,759) and sixth in offensive rebounds (598).

He made a second comeback with the Pelicans during the 2017-18 NBA season, appearing in 26 games and making 19 starts, though sparingly.