Regardless of whether he wins the award this year or not, Joel Embiid is the MVP for the Philadelphia 76ers franchise.
But the man himself credits another All-Star for getting him to where he is today: Andrew Wiggins of the Golden State Warriors. Joel Embiid was candid in a recent appearance on The Old Man and the Three podcast with JJ Redick about how his former Kansas teammate changed his career trajectory all those years ago.
“I'm always thankful of [Andrew Wiggins] because going into college he had so much hype,” said the Sixers star. “They were like, ‘He's the next LeBron.' I kinda used that to my advantage because we had so much scouts, every single day, come in to watch our practices. They were watching us and one day they were like, ‘Who's that guy?'”
Andrew Wiggins was arguably the most anticipated college prospect since LeBron James. His star power was large enough that it clearly trickled down to his teammates, including a young Joel Embiid. The Sixers ended up selecting him with the third overall pick in the NBA draft after their freshman year at Kansas.
But while Andrew Wiggins helped shine some of the spotlight on Embiid, the future Sixers star had to prove himself all the same. We showed off the polished skill he already had even as an inexperienced big man still learning the game. NBA scouts quickly took notice.
“After practices, I would take the ball and go to one court. Start walking through all the trainings. I showed them that I got this. … I showed them that there's me, it's not just Wiggs. If he didn't have all that hype, I don't know where I could have ended up. Maybe I would've been here, but under different circumstances. … You never know.”
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It's possible that Joel Embiid still would've ended up an NBA star had he never crossed paths with Andrew Wiggins. But it's clear that he's thankful that it happened nonetheless. Sixers fans are definitely grateful as well.
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