Joel Embiid has become one of the best big men in the NBA this season, averaging 20.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks per game. Before he was shut down indefinitely with a knee injury Monday, Embiid had the inside track on running away with the Rookie of the Year Award, which is crazy since he only started playing organized basketball six years ago. After one year at Kansas, he was the No. 3 selection in the 2014 NBA Draft and became more of a myth as he battled injuries up until finally making his long-awaited debut.
But now that he’s shown his promise on the hardwood, how much do NBA fans really know about the young star whose presence on social media has been a gift? Like, for instance, did you know that Joel Embiid tried getting LeBron James to join the 76ers? Or that his father was a handball player back in Africa? Here's all you need to know about the enigmatic Sixers big man.
Joel Embiid has become one of the best big men in the NBA this season, averaging 20.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks per game. Before he was shut down indefinitely with a knee injury Monday, Embiid had the inside track on running away with the Rookie of the Year Award, which is crazy since he only started playing organized basketball six years ago. After one year at Kansas, he was the No. 3 selection in the 2014 NBA Draft and became more of a myth as he battled injuries up until finally making his long-awaited debut.
But now that he’s shown his promise on the hardwood, how much do NBA fans really know about the young star whose presence on social media has been a gift? Like, for instance, did you know that Joel Embiid tried getting LeBron James to join the 76ers? Or that his father was a handball player back in Africa? Here's all you need to know about the enigmatic Sixers big man.
Embiid will try to slide into your girl's DMs.
Joel Embiid loves social media. And he loves flirting with the ladies on Twitter and Instagram. He once hit on married Kim Kardashian, inviting her to slide in his DMs.
He said he didn’t realize she was married to Kanye West when he tried it, and he apologized once he found out she was taken.
He tried to recruit LeBron James to join the Sixers.
Right after he was drafted in 2014, Embiid spent several days tweeting at LeBron James in an effort to get the King to leave the Cavs.
He desperately wants to date Rihanna.
After Rihanna followed Embiid on Twitter, he announced that he and Rihanna were officially an item—despite the fact RiRi never responded to him. He then posted a photo of the two of them on a “date." He even created the hashtag #JOHANNA. Embiid isn't afraid to shoot his shot.
He fell in love with basketball after watching the Lakers.
At 13 years old, he watched the Lakers take on the Celtics in the NBA Finals and fell in love with the sport of basketball. But his father wouldn’t let him play because he thought it was too physical.
He started playing organized basketball when he was 16.
The year was 2011, and one of Embiid's uncles had to convince his father to let him play the sport. Embiid had played volleyball and soccer in his native Cameroon before giving basketball a try.
His father wanted him to play volleyball.
Joel Embiid’s father, Thomas, is a colonel in the Cameroon military and played handball. He wanted his son to pursue a professional volleyball career in Europe. Thomas eventually allowed Joel to play basketball and agreed that the chance to send him to the U.S. to hoop it up would also provide him an education.
He killed a lion at age 6. (FAKE NEWS!)
Fake news alert! Having been born and raised in Cameroon, Embiid fabricated a story that he killed a lion at the age of 6. “Americans don’t really have any idea what’s going on in the world, especially us Africans," he told The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski. "When they think about Africans, they think about us running around with lions and tigers and all those animals. When I got to Kansas I kind of used that to my advantage, talking about how I killed a lion and that’s how I became a man.”
He was discovered by Luc Mbah a Moute.
The summer before his junior year of high school, Embiid attended a basketball camp hosted by Luc Mbah a Moute, a Cameroon native. After seeing Embiid, who was 6’9” at the time, he invited him to fly to South Africa to participate in an NBA Global outreach program. Mbah a Moute would later get Embiid to attend Montverde Academy in Lake County, Florida, which was his alma mater.
He doesn't know how to drive a car.
He tried to learn at least four times during his freshman year at Kansas, but got too nervous every time he hopped behind the wheel. Now that he's out for the rest of the season, he has plenty of time to try again.
He's obsessed with Shirley Temples.
Embiid revealed that his signature beverage is Shirley Temples, which he drinks by the pitcher. He's previously stated that he drinks three to four pitchers of the sugary, non-alcoholic drink a day.
One of his favorite TV shows is "Vampire Diaries."
He once tweeted that his favorite show is Vampire Diaries. He thinks you'll like it, too.
He seriously thought about quitting basketball during the 2015-16 season.
After being ruled out for his second NBA season, Embiid almost quit basketball. He told ESPN that after sitting out for almost two and a half years, and also the death of his brother the year before, he was in a bad place and contemplated quitting basketball. With his family across the world in Cameroon, Embiid wanted to go back home and leave everything behind.
#NBAVote Joel Embiid with the @TripleH @WWE entrance 😳🤘🏼 pic.twitter.com/6YHE2AyF2n
— Philadelphia 76ers (@Sixers) January 14, 2017
When the starting lineup was announced for the Sixers-Hornets game earlier this season, Embiid impersonated Triple H’s famous trademark of spitting water into the air. Triple H then tweeted some tips to Embiid.
Still have to perfect the water-to-spit ratio...Not bad for a first attempt. #MopTheFloor#NBAVote Joel Embiid https://t.co/mjaNcStuZt
— Triple H (@TripleH) January 14, 2017
Donald Trump tweeted his support for Embiid. (FAKE NEWS!)
Trying to drum up support for his campaign to get to the 2017 All-Star Game in New Orleans, Embiid created a fake retweet that appeared to come from Donald Trump. He got over 17,000 retweets.
WOWWW RT @realDonaldTrump Joel Embiid #NBAVote
— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) January 5, 2017
He will kill your pet snake.
Teammate Robert Covington, who has a pet snake, has been warned by Embiid that he will kill his pet snake if he ever brings it around him.
He believes he'd be on the Cameroon national soccer team if he weren't playing basketball.
Since soccer was his sport growing up, Embiid believes that if he weren’t playing basketball, he would be on the Cameroon national soccer team right now. We don't know how many 6'9" strikers there are in professional soccer, but sure.
People thought he was upset when the Sixers drafted him.
Embiid was stuck in LA recovering from foot surgery during the NBA Draft in 2014, but he still had a camera crew attend his party on draft night. Due to the broadcast delay, it seemed like Embiid was not happy to be selected by Philadelphia, but a few moments later ESPN showed his actual reaction.
Rick Ross helped him learn English.
Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell, who attended the same high school as Embiid, explained that Joel “didn’t really know a lot of English, but he was a fan of Rick Ross…He would just say a big Rick Ross quote.”
defpensports: D'Angelo on Joel Embiid ESPN NBA Basketball: Lakers at 76ers https://t.co/pr0Dcftg17 pic.twitter.com/I8TlSqhzNn
— FanSportsClips (@FanSportsClips) December 17, 2016