Joel Embiid has blossomed into one of the best players in the NBA since entering the league from the Kansas basketball program. Embiid was convinced he would redshirt and then play four seasons for the Jayhawks. However, by the end of Embiid's freshman season, he was already projected as the No. 1 pick in the 2014 NBA Draft. He talked with Bill Self, which changed everything for him.
More draft projections started in the spring of 2014, labeling Embiid as a can't-miss prospect who could be a generational talent. He spoke to Bill Self and said he did not think he was ready to jump to the NBA and that, in his mind, he had decided to stay. However, those closest to him, like his family and his mentor Luc Mbah a Moute, told him it was time to make the move.
“I decided to stay,” Embiid said in an ESPN profile about his career. “In my head, I was like, ‘I don't deserve this. I only averaged 11 points.' I didn't know much about basketball. I didn't understand how the whole system worked.”
When his family decided to join the league, Embiid packed his bags in Lawrence, Kansas, and left the Kansas basketball program for his agent's mansion in Los Angeles. While in Los Angeles, he was recovering from his first navicular bone surgery and undergoing NBA Draft prep.
Embiid's basketball career had been supercharged, with him being on Montverde Academy's JV team less than three years beforehand. While there, he once caught an outlet pass alone under the basket, only to leap cluelessly in the air, past the backboard, and out of bounds. Shortly thereafter, he was a five-star recruit playing for Kansas basketball and being projected as the top pick in the NBA Draft.
“I never knew how good I was,” Embiid says. “What are these people talking about? What am I going to do about it? Am I going to believe what they say?”
Fast-forward to his current career in the NBA, and he is an NBA MVP winner and has been dominant in the league. Bill Self and Kansas basketball have also maintained dominance and won another title. However, Embiid has been dealing with injuries during his career. As next season gets ready to tip off, Embiid is in line for a big comeback after recovering from knee surgery.
