Philadelphia 76ers rookie center Jahlil Okafor, being investigated for a street fight in Boston this week, reportedly had another run-in with hecklers in October.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that a heckler pointed a gun at Okafor's head following a verbal exchange in October at a Philadelphia club. The newspaper cited five sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
There is no known report of the incident and Okafor declined to address it, according to the report. A source told the Inquirer that federal officers witnessed the encounter.
Boston police have begun to investigate a fight involving Okafor that took place early Thursday morning, according to a statement issued Friday.
Earlier, police said they would not investigate the case unless some filed a statement claiming to be the victim of a crime. But someone did come forward later Friday.
The police statement said a man filed a police report claiming he was the victim of assault and battery outside a nightclub in Boston at about 2 a.m. Thursday.
The man said in the police report that Okafor and another man came toward his group and requested phone numbers from some of the women. The women did not provide the phone numbers, and at that point an argument began and a physical altercation followed.
The man who submitted the report said Okafor knocked him to the ground and caused a cut above his eye that required stitches.
Okafor, 19, addressed the Boston incident with the media on Friday.
"It was definitely dumb on my part," Okafor said. "It's something that I am embarrassed about. (I'm) still dealing with the league and the team."
TMZ released a video Thursday of the incident that occurred in front of Storyville Boston nightclub that showed a man it identified as Okafor verbally sparring with several individuals.
Okafor, the No. 3 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, is seen punching a man, who was knocked to the ground and was out cold during the scuffle after an argument.
The 6-foot-11, 275-pound Okafor was shown in the video tumbling to the ground as a man tried to punch him in the back of the head. The skirmish broke up and no arrests were made.
Okafor, who was with teammate Christian Wood at the time in Boston, said he spoke to Sixers coach Brett Brown about the incident Thursday. The 76ers released a statement Thursday stating they were aware of the report and working to gather additional information. An NBA spokesman said Friday that the league was looking into the incident.
Brown pledged to handle the nightclub incident involving rookie Okafor with "discipline and tough love."
"We ask them to make responsible decisions. You know, life is filled with pitfalls. You can't put a (padlock) on life," Brown said Friday. "He's going to have to, like all of us, navigate through NBA worlds and NBA environments with a level of responsibility.
"We've heard some things, but in fairness to everybody here, there's not much more we're going to comment on, at this point."
Okafor played 27 minutes and scored 11 points with six rebounds in the 76ers' 116-114 loss on the road to the Houston Rockets on Friday night as Philadelphia moved one loss away from matching the New Jersey Nets' NBA-worst mark of 18 losses to open a season.
The Sixers have lost 27 straight games dating to last season for the longest losing streak in major U.S. professional sports history, passing the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1976 to 1977. The previous record was also matched by the 76ers in 2013-14.
Okafor is averaging a team-high 18 points with 7.9 rebounds in 17 games.
