Name: Joel Embiid
Position: Center
Team: Philadelphia 76ers
Height: 7’ 0’’
Wingspan: 7’ 5’’
Points per game: 22.4
Field Goal %: 47.8
Strengths: power, strength, size, court vision and athleticism
Weaknesses: injury history, foul trouble and easily-frustrated
Yaoundé, Cameroon 2011—A skinny 16-year old plays FIFA on the PlayStation 2. He’s supposed to be at a basketball camp, but he decided to stay home with his brother. He might go out and play volleyball or soccer later. He hasn’t played much basketball, which is why he stayed home.
THE PROCESS.
Philadelphia, USA 2018—He starts from the 3-point line. In two strides, palming the ball, he reaches the hoop. Jumps—more like touches the sky—and rockets down with a powerful dunk. He screams and the crowd erupts. MVP chants overwhelm the atmosphere.
Joel Hans Embiid nicknamed THE PROCESS.
Sports analysts across the globe all voice differing opinions on the character of Embiid but they all agree: he is one of the greatest centers to play the game.
According to ESPN writer Micah Adams, “In his two seasons, Embiid racked up a higher percentage than any other NBA newbie ever.”
The headline of Lucas Johnson’s article for The Sixers Sense read, “Philadelphia 76ers Player of the Week: Joel Embiid playing at MVP level.”
Clutch points writer Omar Guerrero said, “His low post moves are reminiscent of some of the best centers in history. He is as strong as any center but he moves with finesse that would make forwards blush with shame.”
Embiid personifies a 7-foot thundering force of nature; yet, how did he go from a scrawny teenager to NBA MVP-level skill? What one trait sets Embiid apart?
My answer…
TENACITY
Merriam-Webster defines tenacity as persistent in maintaining, adhering to, or seeking something valued or desired.
When he was 16 years, Embiid sat playing FIFA on the couch with his younger brother Arthur when he was supposed to be at Luc Mbah a Moute’s basketball camp.
A coach told him the camp could result in an invite to Basketball Without Borders in South Africa and eventually to playing in America. Embiid’s response, “America? I can’t even dribble, sir.”
Embiid skips the first day but the second day, coaches follow him to the camp: a kid who has never played basketball before walking into the gym ready for complete embarrassment.
BAM. DUNK. WOW.
He dunks on a kid the first day. One dunk catapulted his entire basketball career.
Three years later—Embiid lives in Florida playing high school basketball. You’re probably thinking Embiid dunks on some small American point guard and screams Trust the Process in his face right?
Wrong.
This is how Embiid’s first day went.
Gets kicked out of the gym. Then, goes and cries in his room.
Insert—tenacity.
Embiid doesn’t go home. He starts rocking to Lil Wayne and decides to just get in the gym and get better.
Joel Embiid. Current NBA All-Star, playing at MVP level—just decided to get in the gym and get better. But he didn’t just walk in the gym and start jacking up three-pointers. First, he goes to YouTube to learn proper shooting form.
Search Bar: WHITE PEOPLE SHOOTING 3 POINTERS.
Did he look up NBA greats like Ray Allen, Kyle Korver or Reggie Miller?
Nope.
Embiid spends hours watching random white guys teach proper basketball shooting form.
“I know it’s a stereotype, Embiid said, “but have you ever seen a normal, 30-year-old white guy shoot a three-pointer? That elbow is tucked, man. The knees are bent. The follow-through is perfect. Always.”
Fast forward. Embiid survives high school in Florida and goes to college at the University of Kansas. What was his first day like there? He knows how to shoot now. He was a top college recruit.
Complete domination. Right?!
False again.
“My very first scrimmage at Kansas,” Embiid said, “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.”
The Process ends. Embiid leaves Kansas and goes back to Cameroon, letting his NBA dream begin and end with a dunk.
Wrong. Not Embiid. Not with his insane tenacity. What did he do?
He sat down and watched an hour-long tape of Hakeem Olajuwon and some other big men, every single day for THREE YEARS.
THE PROCESS. TENACITY.
“Then, I sort of started killing it,” Embiid said.
However, he didn’t just display tenacity in studying the art of basketball. A few months after the Philadelphia 76ers drafted Embiid as the 3rd overall pick in 2014, Embiid’s younger brother Arthur was killed in a car accident in Cameroon. Arthur was only 13 years old.
Ability to seek something desired—tenacity. Embiid sought, maintained and pursued his passion for basketball in honor of his brother.
Philadelphia, USA 2018—He starts from the 3-point line. In two strides, palming the ball, he reaches the hoop. Jumps—more like touches the sky—and rockets down with a powerful dunk. He screams and the crowd erupts. MVP chants overwhelm the atmosphere.
Thank you Embiid for tenaciously pursuing your dream and giving us some massive, beautiful basketball highlights along the way.
This post is one part of a blog written for Dr. Philip Patterson’s Feature Writing class.
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