Quick Facts
LeoBiography
Chukwuma Julian "Chuma" Okeke (born August 18, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for the Lakeland Magic of the NBA G League. A power forward, he was drafted 16th overall by the Orlando Magic in the 2019 NBA draft. He played college basketball for the Auburn Tigers.
High school career
Okeke attended Westlake High School in Atlanta. As a junior, he won the Georgia Class 6A state championship, scoring 13 points in a 68–58 win over Pebblebrook High School. Okeke was named Mr. Georgia Basketball after his senior season, through which he averaged 24.4 points, 15 rebounds and 2.4 steals per game. He was a consensus four-star recruit and was ranked among the top 50 players in his class by some scouting services.
College career
In his freshman season with Auburn, Okeke averaged 7.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. He grabbed 197 rebounds in the season, the most by an Auburn freshman since Jeff Moore in 1984–85.
As a sophomore, Okeke averaged 12 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.8 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game while starting in all 38 games. On March 29, 2019, in a Sweet 16 win over top-seeded North Carolina at the 2019 NCAA Tournament, he tore his ACL and was injured for the rest of the tournament. Despite his absence, Auburn advanced to its first Final Four appearance in program history.
Professional career
Orlando Magic (2019–present)
On June 20, 2019, Okeke was selected with the 16th overall pick by the Orlando Magic in the 2019 NBA draft.Okeke was considered to be a lottery pick in the draft, but after suffering an ACL injury in the 2019 NCAA Tournament, he fell to the 16th selection by the Magic, and was referred to by ESPN analyst, Mike Schmitz as the "steal of the draft."
During his rehab, Okeke signed a one-year G League contract with the Magic's affiliate in Lakeland with the intent of starting his rookie-scale contract in 2020. He reported to Lakeland's training camp as a draft rights player on October 28, 2019.
Career statistics
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
College
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017–18 | Auburn | 34 | 0 | 21.6 | .458 | .391 | .673 | 5.8 | 1.1 | .7 | .7 | 7.5 |
| 2018–19 | Auburn | 38 | 38 | 29.1 | .496 | .387 | .722 | 6.8 | 1.9 | 1.8 | 1.2 | 12.0 |
| Career | 72 | 38 | 25.5 | .481 | .389 | .703 | 6.3 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 9.9 | |
Personal life
Okeke's father Chuka Okeke is from Nigeria.