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Despite his dominance on the basketball court, reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid admitted to having had dreams of becoming a soccer player.
The Philadelphia 76ers star told Men In Blazers of his love for the beautiful game in comparison to basketball.
‘I’d rather be a football [soccer] player than a basketball player,’ Embiid said. ‘That’s how much I love it. Football to me is like there’s nothing close to a bigger sport in the world, nothing close to it. I like the concept of the team. In basketball, if you have two good players you can win but in football, the team has to be together.’
Embiid revealed how his size allowed him to be a ‘bully’ on the pitch but also became a hindrance. With a seven-foot frame, he admitted how his towering stature kept him from being a goal-scoring ace.
‘I always wanted to be a striker, but I was just way too big,’ he added. ‘I found myself in the middle because I just felt like, I like to control, make the pᴀsses and just control the whole game.
Joel Embiid admitted that he dreams of becoming a soccer player despite his NBA success
Embiid compared his playing style and ability to bully others to Ivorian legend Yaya Toure
With two scoring тιтles and an NBA MVP, Embiid is currently the face of the Philadelphia 76ers
‘Obviously being bigger than everybody else, I was more physical and people were actually scared of me because I would just make some move and act like I’m going to kick you in the foot, and everybody would be scared. I was kind of the bully, but like a Yaya Touré, physical presence, big, tall. But yeah, I enjoyed it. I wish I had more talent to be professional, but I guess I didn’t.’
‘If Joel was a couple feet shorter, yeah,’ Embiid added. ‘At seven feet, I don’t think so. Even in goalkeepers, I don’t think I’d be good at seven feet. But yeah an alternate universe where Joel is better than Messi, Ronaldo? Yeah, for sure. I would have been.’
Though his soccer dreams may not come into fruition at this point, Embiid is nowhere short of stardom as a basketball player.
After getting drafted in 2014, Embiid bloomed into a seven-time All-Star and one of the NBA’s best as Philadelphia’s franchise player. Embiid also won the scoring тιтle twice and made eight All-NBA selections before being crowned as the league MVP in 2023.
Embiid broke the 76ers’ record with a 70-point performance against the San Antonio Spurs
On January 22, the Cameroonian big man added another milestone to his career by breaking the 76ers’ franchise scoring record. His 70-point performance against the San Antonio Spurs made Embiid the ninth player to break that scoring barrier and tied him for the 12th highest-scoring performance in NBA history.
Still, he remains adamant about his love for soccer and relishes what could have been if he pursued the pitch over the hardwood.
‘I watch football because I love it and I grew up watching it and I grew up loving it, but I think I also love football because it’s a dream that I was never able to accomplish. I want to feel what it’s like. I want to be part of it.’
