Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid started playing basketball late for someone who's now a professional player. The Sixers star played soccer and volleyball as a child, but picked up basketball at the age of 15.
Within four years, Embiid was a superstar center at the University of Kansas, averaging 11.2 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks in just 23.1 minutes per game.
A year later, Joel Embiid went No. 3 overall in the 2014 NBA Draft by the Sixers, where he became a star despite missing the first two seasons of his career due to injuries.
In his seven-year NBA career, Embiid has always been adept at getting to the free throw line. He averaged 7.9 free throw attempts per game as a rookie while shooting 78.3 percent from the line, and over time, has only increased his attempts and efficiency. This season, Embiid is taking a career-high 11.8 free throw attempts per game and shooting 85.4 percent, which sits percentage points behind his career-high mark of 85.9 percent.
“I've been missing too many lately,” Joel Embiid said. “I missed three again tonight. I missed three against the Lakers. Utah. So I got to be better. I like to make all of them. That's why they’re called free throws. So I get extremely mad when I miss one of them. So I got to be better, but if being above average, you know, 80 percent, over 80 percent every single year is pretty good, I guess.”
Since he started playing basketball at the age of 15, Embiid certainly had to make up for lost time. He didn't want to be a traditional big man, though. He wanted to be a big man who should space the floor out while also dominating inside.
“I think my progression from the time when I started playing at 16 was — I still remember the first move I was taught was the Dirk fadeaway. So I was not a big where you got to go through a bunch of down posts, you got to play like a big. So I think I got lucky because from the time I started playing, I was allowed to shoot the ball, so I had to work on it.
“Obviously I mentioned that before as far as looking at my white people on YouTube. That's how I learned how to shoot, is by watching white people on YouTube. But other than that, I always saw it as especially when you watch bigs from the past that was something I was missing. Whether it’s the perimeter game or shooting the ball. So I just wanted to be different. And I think it’s helped me a lot.”
"Looking at my white people on YouTube. That's how I learned how to shoot, is by watching white people on YouTube."
Joel Embiid says he learned how to shoot by watching white people on YouTube 🤣 pic.twitter.com/opaTQ7QOk9
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) January 18, 2023
Looking at the rest of the league and international big men in it, you can see how multi-dimensional guys like Embiid, Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Domantas Sabonis really are.
“It's good for the game,” Sixers star Joel Embiid told ClutchPoints on how global the NBA game has gotten. “I think you look at the way the game has been going the past few years, guys that are coming in. The last couple MVPs have been international. If you look at this year and the following year … I’m still 28. Giannis is 28. Jokic is 28. Luka is 23. You know, you got a big French kid coming in pretty soon. So I think the way the game has been able to grow all the other countries are picking up and I think it's good for the game.”
At 28-16, Philadelphia has the third-best record in the East and will look to solidify things as the season goes on. For now, they'll look to close out their five-game road trip with wins in Portland against the Trail Blazers and Sacramento against the Kings.
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