Joel Embiid’s journey in the NBA has been anything but easy. He has battled through several difficulties to reach the level where he is right now. The Philadelphia 76ers superstar is currently one of the best players in the NBA and has been in the conversation to win the MVP award over the last few seasons.
However, did you know Joel Embiid almost quit playing basketball even before entering the NBA?
Yes, when Embiid took place in the first scrimmage of his career at Kanas, Embiid was about to give up basketball. The reason? Well, the 28-year-old wrote about that in detail back in 2018.
Via The Players’ Tribune:
So I went to Kansas.
And this is another true story … hand to God.
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.
Joel Embiid getting dunked on by Tarik Black gave him a brutal reality check during his time with Kansas. Fortunately, Embiid didn’t give up on playing basketball and is now one of the top players in the league.
Joel Embiid Revealed The Only Thing That Kept Him Going Was The Way He Was Raised By His Parents
After receiving the brutal reality check during his very first scrimmage at Kansas, Joel Embiid’s morale took a huge hit. So much so that he went straight to coach Bill Self’s office and wanted to give up.
While Self-motivated Embiid by reassuring Embiid that he would soon become the number one overall pick in the NBA Draft, it was something entirely different that kept Embiid going.
The only thing that kept me going was the way that I was raised by my parents. They always told us to keep working, no matter what. I had this DVD that my coach in Cameroon had mailed to me when I first came to America. It was an hour-long tape of Hakeem Olajuwon and some other legendary big men. I probably watched that DVD every single day for three years. I would study the way Hakeem moved, and I would go out and try to imitate him.
Thankfully, Embiid never called it quits on his basketball career. But the 76ers’ big man has indeed given up on one thing – the MVP race.
Over the last two seasons, Embiid has finished behind Nikola Jokic, and this season, Embiid couldn’t care less about the MVP race. He believes he has already shown everyone what he can do on the court.
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