PHILADELPHIA — Joel Embiid could go back to school and write a pretty mind-blowing account of how he spent his summer vacation.
Embiid won olympic gold for Team USA. He signed a contract extension with Philadelphia that will pay him more than $64 million in his final season. Embiid spoke at the UN General Assembly about African innovation. Already parents of a young son, Embiid and his wife are expecting a daughter.
Oh, and his lobbying efforts for the Sixers to sign All-Star free agent Paul George paid off with perhaps the most significant acquisition in Embiid’s 10 seasons with the franchise.
Not a bad offseason.
For his final move before training camp opens next week, Embiid celebrated one major watershed more personal in nature.
The seven-time NBA All-Star hosted the “In Memory of Arthur” block party to honor the life of his late brother in a Friday night event for Philadelphia Youth Basketball.
Embiid’s younger brother, Arthur Embiid, died in a car accident in 2014 at the age of 13. Embiid, born in Yaoundé, Cameroon, later named his son Arthur in his brother’s memory. At the Sixth Man Center, the 76ers and PYB unveiled a 70-by-10-foot mural that overlooked the “In Memory of Arthur” Court, which was dedicated to Embiid and his family when the complex opened earlier this year.
“It’s still hard, thinking about the whole thing,” Embiid said of his brother. “He’s also one of the reasons why I’m doing this. He was someone who cared about everyone. It’s funny, all the stories I’ve heard, because I haven’t been around since I left Cameroon. Coming back after his death, everyone stories I heard, just someone I cared about, that always gave back.”
Embiid and his son shot hoops at bounce houses and on the court at a Friday night event attended by George, All-Star Tyrese Maxey, other Sixers teammates and team president Daryl Morey.
“He’s someone who has embraced me from Day 1,” Maxey said. “Joel, he was the first person that believed in me. He believes in all of you. He believes in all of Philly. We just really have to appreciate him. We just have to really like him.”
Maxey then asked nearly 200 kids — most of them in Embiid gear — to stand and give the 7-footer a standing ovation.
Embiid, who signed a $193 million extension with a player option for the 2028-29 season, appreciated the gesture.
“Growing up, being around struggle, that was always my goal, to have some kind of impact,” Embiid said.
Embiid has donated millions throughout his career to Philly community efforts. Among his charitable efforts, he donated All-Star Game winnings to area homeless shelters, partnered with a grocery chain to help families with rent or mortgage relief, and pledged with Sixers ownership in 2020 a combined $1.3 million to Penn Medicine for COVID-19 antibody testing of frontline health workers.
Embiid put his last name into the party, which treated area kids to a variety of basketball and football clinics, block party games, food and entertainment. Local nonprofit Philadelphia Youth Basketball opened its $36 million Alan Horwitz “Sixth Man” Center this summer, with $5 million in help from the longtime season ticket holder standout.
Bouncing on soft pretzels, kids screamed for George and Maxey as they took the court.
Embiid may have been George’s biggest supporter. The 76ers enticed George to leave the LA Clippers and sign a four-year, $212 million contract. George joins a Sixers team that has been a perennial underdog even as Embiid blossomed into one of the best players in the NBA. Philadelphia hasn’t won an NBA title since 1983 or even advanced out of the second round of the playoffs since 2001.
“PG, great. I spent a lot of time recruiting Paul and I’m glad he’s here,” Embiid said.
Embiid played a key role in helping the US team win gold in the Paris Olympics. He later spoke at the UN General Assembly Week at the Prince William Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit in New York.
“It was about Africa,” Embiid said. “I’m one of the guys who succeeded and that’s hope. There are a lot of us. I feel that using that opportunity to go makes sense. We don’t have many opportunities. There’s a lot of me.”
Even without a championship, there is plenty of Philly that likes Embiid.
“There’s no way, since I was 16 years old, I should have been here,” Embiid said. “As long as you put in the work, and I guess you trust the process, it will end up paying off.”
