“One night, I went out with my teammates. I don’t drink alcohol, so I wasn’t drinking. This girl walked up to me; she was talking to me. She was like, ‘Why aren’t you drinking?’ I was like, ‘I just don’t drink. Alcohol is nasty.’ She said, ‘I might have something for you.’ She went and got a Shirley Temple. Then I was like, ‘Ohhh, OK.’”
― Joel Embiid
“Having your teammates’ backs – that’s what I feel being a leader is.”
― Joel Embiid
“I have lots of confidence in myself that I can fulfill my dreams and make the people of Philadelphia proud.”
― Joel Embiid
“One thing when I started playing in the league, I saw that a lot of guys are friendly. It’s OK to be friendly, especially off the court. But on the court, I want to dominate.”
― Joel Embiid
“Every time, the mindset I get when I get on the floor is that I’m the best player on the floor.”
― Joel Embiid
“I want to win the MVP. I feel like, at the end of the day, it might be an individual award, but when I play better, the team also does.”
― Joel Embiid
“I want to be that type of guy – I want to be Kobe Bryant. I want to be Tim Duncan. I want to be Dirk Nowitzki – stay with one team my whole career.”
― Joel Embiid
“The first time I watched basketball was in 2010.”
― Joel Embiid
“I love competing. I mean, if you ask anybody around me, my coaches, they know I love competing. I hate losing.”
― Joel Embiid
“I’m trying to dominate, and if you dominate, you’re going to be hated because you’re going to talk so much stuff.”
― Joel Embiid
“I think the concept of minute restrictions is kind of complicated. I don’t think there should ever be minute restrictions. I think it should always be about how my body feels and how it’s reacting.”
― Joel Embiid
“I started playing basketball so late, it just means that anything is possible.”
― Joel Embiid
“I love when guys come at the beginning of the game and start talking trash. It gets me going.”
― Joel Embiid
“If I play against you the first time – or it doesn’t even have to be the first time – and you want to be all physical and just talk, or talking trash or whatever, it just gets me going.”
― Joel Embiid
“When I look at myself, I’m not a big man – I’m a guard. I can do everything on the basketball court. You can name it – pass, post up, shoot the ball, bring the ball up, being a playmaker – so I’m excited to break that stereotype.”
― Joel Embiid
“I want to be the Defensive Player of the Year and, if I have the chance, be MVP.”
― Joel Embiid
“I’m just going to do my job, what coach wants me to do, be a defensive piece, and when needed to be a scorer, I’m going to be that.”
― Joel Embiid
“It’s just about working on everything, perfecting everything, like my 3-point shot or ball handling.”
― Joel Embiid
“The Process is never going to end.”
― Joel Embiid
“We’re always going to be trusting the process.”
― Joel Embiid
“Whatever happens happens. If something happens, something happens. But I believe in God, and I pray every day.”
― Joel Embiid
“When I play ‘2K,’ I’ll play in GM mode. And I choose different teams. But I always trade for myself because I’m unstoppable. Literally there’s no way to stop me in ‘2K.’”
― Joel Embiid
“I don’t like to be involved in front-office stuff.”
― Joel Embiid
“Philly will be the place for me for my whole career.”
― Joel Embiid
“Every time I’m on the court, every time a fan cheers for me, I just want to go out and make a play for them to cheer even more.”
― Joel Embiid
“I feel like I have a lot of potential, a lot of stuff to show.”
― Joel Embiid
“Trust ‘The Process.’”
― Joel Embiid
“If I’m playing well, and we’re winning games, that’s what I want.”
― Joel Embiid
“I love when people talk trash.”
― Joel Embiid
“I think of myself as a complete player.”
― Joel Embiid
“I like playing on the road and quieting the crowd. I love it.”
― Joel Embiid
“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.”
― Joel Embiid
“I look like I’m not listening, but I’m actually listening. I like listening to everything, observing everybody, just taking everything in, and then, in my mind, figuring out what’s good for me and what’s bad for me.”
― Joel Embiid
“The Process is never going to end. It’s an ongoing thing. I don’t think it’s ever going to stop. As I have explained before, it’s a process for making it to the playoffs, it’s another one to make the conference finals, another one to actually go to The Finals and win the championship.”
― Joel Embiid
“I don’t really care about the friendships on the court. I got my friends. I got my family, which I’m close to. I got a couple of friends that I’m always around.”
― Joel Embiid
“When I sat down with Under Armour, one of the first things we talked about was how this can be bigger than just shoes, bigger than just basketball.”
― Joel Embiid
“Every time I get on the court, I want to push my teammates to be better as a leader and lead by example.”
― Joel Embiid
“I’m starting to figure it out – figure out my spots, where I should be on the court, where I’m most effective, and how I handle double teams – and it’s paying off.”
― Joel Embiid
“If the team needs me to recruit somebody, I’ll be here. I’ll be doing that.”
― Joel Embiid
“I want to win.”
― Joel Embiid
“I like playing in front of the crowd and get them into it.”
― Joel Embiid
“If I’m not making plays, I can’t get the crowd going. When I’m making plays, that’s where I can feel a vibe and can get into it with the crowd.”
― Joel Embiid
“I always dream about that type of moment. In my head, I always kind of create that scenario, just about, like, some type of winning shot or block that’s going to, like, really get the crowd into it.”
― Joel Embiid
“One thing the fans got to understand is that I missed two years, and we took it really, really slow, and we made sure everything was good, and my foot has been great.”
― Joel Embiid
“If they’re going to foul me, I’m going to step to the line and make some free throws.”
― Joel Embiid
“Back in 2011, I was kind of shy. I wasn’t as good because that was the year, also, when I started playing basketball.”
― Joel Embiid
“If I feel great and my body feels great and my knee is fine, I should play 30 minutes or more. I definitely have my opinion on that.”
― Joel Embiid
“I’m not cocky, I’m humble, but I think I can be really special, one of the top players in the league.”
― Joel Embiid
“I started playing basketball very late, and for me to make it to the league so fast… I’ve always said my life is a movie.”
― Joel Embiid
“I think it would’ve been a little easier if I grew up in America; they’ve got better conditions for basketball players. At the same time, many people have said to me that having to start playing so late helped me not pick up bad habits.”
― Joel Embiid
“I always like to have some type of connection with the crowd.”
― Joel Embiid
“Sometimes, I feel like I’m lost. But I’ve always said that I believe in God.”
― Joel Embiid
“People have labeled the Process as whatever, tanking. I don’t see it like that.”
― Joel Embiid
“A lot of people just think I’m a big man, but I’m a basketball player. I am able to do everything that a basketball player can do – from playmaking and scoring to just passing the ball and just being a leader and post presence.”
― Joel Embiid
“On the defensive end, I have to do my job.”
― Joel Embiid
“In a season, you’re going to go through slumps.”
― Joel Embiid
“I wanted to become president, and I wanted to become an astronaut. Because I was really good at math.”
― Joel Embiid
“I want to be in Philly for the rest of my life.”
― Joel Embiid
“I’m really not an injury-prone player. I just had that one injury that took, like, two years.”
― Joel Embiid
“I love when people tell me that I was gonna be a bust. I enjoy when people tell me, ‘You suck. You can’t dribble. You can’t shoot,’ because it’s like, gotta go to the gym.”
― Joel Embiid
“When I was visiting schools, I wanted to go and see what they got. After my visit, I knew that Kansas was good.”
― Joel Embiid
“Basketball has given me everything, but it has to be bigger than basketball. That was the first thing that I said to Under Armour, and they were behind it 100 percent. This isn’t about a shoe deal.”
― Joel Embiid
“I’m not made of glass.”
― Joel Embiid
“I’m very good at drawing fouls.”
― Joel Embiid
“I feel like I’m one of the most physical players in the league – I love contact. I love attacking. I love going to the free throw line.”
― Joel Embiid
“I always think about myself as, like, a regular person. I want to be able to enjoy everything.”
― Joel Embiid
“My coaches sometimes say I’m a little bit too competitive. But I want to win, and I feel like we should win every game.”
― Joel Embiid
“All of the great big men went to college at least two or three years. I think it’s a big factor. I don’t know if it will always work, but I think it’s the best choice.”
― Joel Embiid
“I love being physical.”
― Joel Embiid
“I feel like I am the best defensive player in the league.”
― Joel Embiid
“It’s basketball; it’s always good to blow a team out.”
― Joel Embiid
“I think I’m a good offensive player, good defensive player. I do it on both ends of the floor.”
― Joel Embiid
“On social media, I can hide behind the computer or the iPhone. Internet courage.”
― Joel Embiid
“I found social media was a way for me to open up and show the world who I was and also keep my name out there.”
― Joel Embiid
“Chinese fans are just passionate about the game. The love they have is just insane.”
― Joel Embiid
“I’m actually really good at everything I do.”
― Joel Embiid
“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.”
― Joel Embiid
“I feel like Americans don’t really have any idea of what’s going on in the world, especially us Africans. I feel like when they think about Africans, they think about just us running around with lions and tigers and all those other animals.”
― Joel Embiid
“I feel like racism isn’t over.”
― Joel Embiid
“I always thought that the U.S. was just amazing, and it was just a dream. I thought it was Heaven. Coming here a couple years ago, you know, the U.S. is still nice, but it’s not like what I thought it was going to be.”
― Joel Embiid
“I see a lot of athletes that don’t really use social media, or they’re saying the same stuff. I kind of wanted to change the game.”
― Joel Embiid
“I started liking basketball when I was 13, but I couldn’t play because my dad thought it was too physical.”
― Joel Embiid
“I do like to be shirtless.”
― Joel Embiid
“I’m competitive, and I think everybody knows that if you’re talking trash, you’re gonna get a reaction out of me.”
― Joel Embiid
“Agents recruiting high-school players and talking to high-schoolers – I feel like those are the people who put bad ideas in kids.”
― Joel Embiid
“When I started playing ball as a junior, I’m kind of glad that I was never good enough to be highly recruited.”
― Joel Embiid
“My life is like a movie.”
― Joel Embiid
“You know how I learned to shoot? I watched white people. Just regular white people. They really put their elbow in and finish up top. You can find videos of them online.”
― Joel Embiid
“Everything in my life happens really fast.”
― Joel Embiid
“When I was still back in Cameroon, because I didn’t know English, I used to listen to French rap all the time and then a little bit of American hip-hop. And then, when I got to the States, that’s when I really got into all those guys – Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, all those guys.”
― Joel Embiid
“Before games and sometimes practice, I like something with a dope beat. Like Rick Ross, when he’s just like, ‘RUH!,’ all that stuff.”
― Joel Embiid
“I like Meek Mill a lot. I listen to ‘Dreams & Nightmares’ introduction a lot. I always act crazy when the beat drops.”
― Joel Embiid
“That’s the whole point of playing basketball – having fun.”
― Joel Embiid
“I want to have a lot to do with winning a championship or bringing a championship back to the city of Philadelphia.”
― Joel Embiid
“At some points, I wanted to quit. There were surgeries after surgeries, and I didn’t really believe in myself. I didn’t feel good about my body.”
― Joel Embiid
“I really feel like I have the potential – and I’m not even kidding about it – I have the potential to be the best player in the league.”
― Joel Embiid
“There’s definitely a lot of undiscovered talent in Africa. If I’m one of them and there’s a few other guys in the league, that means that there must be some that are hidden.”
― Joel Embiid
“I want to get in there and jump in the stands and dive for every loose ball.”
― Joel Embiid
“I want people to say that an African basketball player is the best player in the whole world.”
― Joel Embiid
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