Sixers’ Joel Embiid reflects on journey from Cameroon to NBA MVP: ‘Improbable doesn’t mean impossible’
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Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid is currently battling a knee injury that has kept him out of his team’s last two playoff games, but he got some terrific news to help ease the pain on Tuesday when he was officially named the 2023 NBA Most Valuable Player.
Embiid, who did not start playing basketball until he was 15 years old, hails from Cameroon and is the second player from Africa to win the league’s most prestigious honor, joining Hakeem Olajuwon. (Steve Nash was born in South Africa, but identifies as Canadian and played for the Canadian national team.)
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Embiid reflected on his incredible journey:
“It’s hard to win this league; it’s hard to be successful in this league,” Embiid said. “There’s a reason why these are the best basketball players in the world. And to be sitting here and feel like I won something as far as the Most Valuable Player is great. But then again, it’s also part of my story because I’ve always felt like I was a role model — especially to my Cameroonian people and my African people — and I feel like, just looking at my story, they can look at it and be like, ‘Wow, he did it.’
“Probably the probability of someone like me, starting playing basketball at 15, to get the chance to be the MVP of the league is, I’d say, probably negative zero. … We don’t have a lot of opportunities back in Africa, in general, to get to this point. But improbable doesn’t mean impossible, and you can accomplish anything you set your mind to. As long as you believe in it, and you know, keep working hard, anything can happen.”
Embiid grew up playing soccer and volleyball, but became enamored with basketball after watching the 2009 Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Orlando Magic, Yaron Weitzman wrote in his book about the Sixers, Tanking to the Top. Embiid wanted to turn his attention to the sport, but his parents preferred that he focus on school and volleyball, and the original plan was for him to go study in France.
It was Embiid’s uncle who helped convince his parents to let him pursue his basketball dreams, and made the connections that got the process started. At a camp in Yaounde, Cameroon’s capital, Embiid met Luc Mbah a Moute, who became a mentor and helped Embiid travel to the United States. The big man spent his high school years in Florida, before playing one season at Kansas. He was then selected No. 3 overall by the Sixers in the 2014 NBA Draft, and the rest is history.
For Embiid to reach these heights less than 15 years after picking up the game is a truly remarkable accomplishment. Even once he made it to the NBA, there were so many moments where his career could have gone sideways, but he continued working and is now not only the MVP, but has a chance to lead his team to a championship.
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