Charlotte
Philip Maymin
Basketball News Services
How does the phrase "Chukwuemeka Noubuisi Okafor, President of the United States" strike you? The Bobcats have a joke web page promoting Okafor as the candidate of choice in 2004 (see Team Notes below), but let's take a half-serious look at this political candidate.
Does he fit the requirements? Not yet. Though he was born and raised in the United States, he needs to wait until he is 35 years old. That will happen on September 28, 2017, meaning he will be eligible to run for the highest office in the land for the 2020 election.
By then, he will have wrapped up an extraordinary career as the cornerstone of the Charlotte Bobcats franchise. Will he have won a championship or two? Or will he be like Karl Malone or Charles Barkley, a great power forward who never quite earned that ring?
By 2020 he will be 38 years old. He would be by far the youngest president in American history.
He would also be among the smartest. Okafor finished his education at the University of Connecticut with a degree in finance, graduating in only three years while playing college ball full-time. That is a most impressive act.
How many electoral votes will he receive? Connecticut is a shoo-in with 8 votes. Suppose he is able to carry the tri-state area, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. That's Connecticut (8), New York (33), New Jersey (15), New Hampshire (4), and Massachusetts (12). Georgia (13), by then, should also be a shoo-in. That's already a total of 85. He only needs a total of 270 to win the election, or merely 185 more. If he can swing basketball voters in California (54), Texas (32), Florida (25), Illinois (22), and Pennsylvania (23), that's already 241. All he would need is another 29 electoral vote, e.g. Missouri (11) and Michigan (18).
TEAM NOTES
Vote Emeka Okafor in 2004. Check out Charlotte's new webpage at okaforin04.com: Join the Okafor in '04 campaign today and watch this champion and patriot lead his franchise forward. He's a born leader A tireless worker. And he is the people's choice!
Sign up herefor the free, official email newsletter of the Bobcats.
Don Steinberg ofThe Philadelphia Inquirerwrites: Orange Okafor. The NBA and its rookie team, the Charlotte Bobcats, provide an inside glimpse into modern sports marketing with a revealing document on the Web at www.nba.com/media/bobcats/Bobcats_Brand.pdf. The 24-page report offers "a look back" at the process of creating the Bobcats.Also detailed are strategies behind the design of the team logo, home-court floor and mascot, and the decision to put top draft pick Emeka Okafor and teammates in the NBA's only orange road uniform.
The San Antonio Expressreports: M.L. Carr: Minority investor in Charlotte Bobcats. Previously served as president of WNBA's Charlotte Sting and as coach of Celtics from 1995-'97.