Jahlil Okafor is getting yet another second wind (a third wind?) in the NBA, this time with the New Orleans Pelicans after two previous failed stints with the Philadelphia 76ers and the Brooklyn Nets. Yet this might be the team that sticks for him, as he will get the chance to play alongside his idol and role model Anthony Davis.

“I’m really excited to be a part of the New Orleans Pelicans organization, and I was actually — before I came out here to be at this D-Wade Invitational, I was in New Orleans this past week,” said Jahlil Okafor as a guest of C.J. McCollum's Pull-Up Podcast. “There were several guys there; AD was one of the guys there. You know, he’s a Chicago guy so he’s somebody that I’ve always been able to watch and monitor because when I was a freshman, he was the No. 1 high school player in the country as a senior. I was able to do the same thing. Then he went to Kentucky, won a national championship; then I went to Duke and copied him — did the same thing and won a national championship.”

“He’s always been like a mark for me to look at. He’s not too much older than me, but a role model in the sense of just the success he’s had and he’s always done everything the right way. So, I’m excited to be able to team up with him and be with him on a day-to-day basis.”

Okafor has faced durability issues as well as work ethics ones — the latter are fixable, but it requires the right people to trigger his attitude and an environment that encourages him to thrive, not pressure him into immediate results.

The promise is there for Okafor, who put up a healthy 17.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game as a rookie — numbers he has yet to replicate since being the odd man out in the Sixers' bench.

Anthony Davis' mentorship could play a large role, as Okafor could use emulating his work ethic and imitate the dedication to his craft as one of the most skilled big men in the game.