Joel Embiid opens up — even more — in Players’ Tribune piece

By Matt Tait     Aug 31, 2018

Former Kansas center Joel Embiid looks toward the bleachers in Allen Fieldhouse on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017, during a Philadelphia Sixers practice.

Unless you’ve been living in a cave, under a rock or on a different planet, you know by now that former Kansas basketball center Joel Embiid, now one of the brightest shining stars in the NBA with the Philadelphia 76ers, is one of the most entertaining professional athletes on social media.

From flirting with Rihanna to posting videos and pictures of him jogging or playing pickup games on the streets of Phily, Embiid, since turning pro, has never been afraid to put himself out there and share his life and his world with his adoring fans.

On Friday, Embiid took it one step farther [by releasing a piece via The Players’ Tribune in which he insists that his life is a movie][1] and then goes on and on backing up that claim.

It’s equal parts entertaining and eye-rolling and figures to leave you laughing and wishing, yet again, that Embiid had been forced to stay four seasons in college instead of turning pro after just one.

Here are a couple of quick excerpts from the article. But you should definitely carve out a few minutes of your day to go read the whole thing. You won’t be disappointed and it’s a perfect read for a Friday.

Former Kansas center Joel Embiid laughs while working with Philadelphia teammate Dario Saric in Allen Fieldhouse on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017, during a Sixers practice.

** • Embiid on his very first experience with a basketball practice after arriving in the U.S…**

> “So I went to the practice on the first
> day, and I was so bad that the coach
> kicked me out of the gym. I didn’t
> know what I was doing. I was so
> skinny, so soft. But the worst part
> was that all my own teammates were
> seriously pointing and laughing at me,
> like the asshole kids in the movies
> about high school. It was crazy. I’m
> looking at these dudes, not really
> understanding what they’re even
> saying, like, Damn guys, come on,
> let’s just trust the process here.”

**• Embiid on where he learned how to shoot that sweet jumper of his…**

> “Listen, I know it’s a stereotype, but
> have you ever seen a normal,
> 30-year-old white guy shoot a
> 3-pointer? That elbow is tucked, man.
> The knees are bent. The follow-through
> is perfect. Always. You know how in
> America, there’s always an older guy
> wearing like EVERLAST sweat-shorts at
> the court? That guy is always a
> problem. His J is always wet. Those
> are the guys I learned from on
> YouTube. Just random people shooting
> threes with perfect form.”

**• Embiid on the first NBA game he ever watched…**

> “The first time I ever watched an NBA
> game was the 2009 Finals. Lakers vs.
> Magic. Dwight. Pau. Odom. KOBE. I had
> never seen anything like that. I was
> watching those dudes shoot like 100%
> from the floor. Everything was going
> in. The way they moved, and the
> athleticism, I thought it was the
> coolest thing in the world. I had that
> moment like, I just wanna do that.”

**• Embiid on his first experience in the gym at KU…**

> “My very first scrimmage at Kansas, I
> got dunked on so hard by Tarik Black
> that I almost quit. Tarik dunked on me
> so hard that I was looking at plane
> tickets home. This guy was a senior.
> He was a grown man. I didn’t know what
> was going on. He got his own rebound
> and dunked over me so hard that
> everything went in slow motion.”
>
> “He dunked the ball off my head, for
> real. But I didn’t even tell you the
> worst part. The worst part was that
> the entire Kansas women’s hoops team
> was sitting in the bleachers watching
> the scrimmage. The whole gym was
> laughing at me. It was crazy.
> Seriously, it was like a WORLDSTAR
> situation.”
>
> “So I went straight to Bill Self’s
> office afterward and I said, “I can’t
> do this. You have to redshirt me. I
> can’t play with these guys.” And Bill
> was like, “What? Are you serious? In
> two years, you’re going to be the No.
> 1 pick in the NBA draft.”

Self was close, of course. Embiid wound up going No. 3 in the draft and it did not take him two years to get there.

There’s so much more color and flare in this story than these few excerpts show. So go read it, enjoy it and be thankful that the world knows who Joel Embiid is.

[1]: https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/joel-embiid-its-story-time

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.