Dreams from the far corners of the globe
No dream of playing basketball is as unlikely as that of Cameroon Joel Embiid. He grew up in a nation which had little basketball options to fuel interest. And his initial interest was soccer and volleyball. Basketball only began to interest Embiid in his teens.
Initially, Joel Embiid’s Dad didn’t want him to play basketball because he thought it might be too physical for him.
— Sixers Legion (@SixersLegion) November 29, 2017
Joel - “Kinda disappointed that my dad thought I was soft.”
😂😂😂
Soft and inexperienced. Basketball was not a popular sport in Cameroon in Joel Embiid’s childhood. And if not for the intervention of fellow countryman and NBA player Luc Mbah A Moute, he would be winning hearts in volleyball.
Croatia sends a hero to Philadelphia
To the north, another nation had Philadelphia in it’s sights. The home of Pedrag and Vaselinki Saric was an incubation chamber of love and respect for the game of basketball. That legacy fostered the workhorse like effort in their son Dario. Much like Embiid, Dario Saric was selected in the 2014 NBA Draft. And much like Embiid, Saric did not arrive to Philadelphia until 2016.
But where Embiid fought against the trend, Dario Saric was raised in a basketball family. As Philadelphia 76ers fans learned the economic reasons why Dario Saric would never come to Philadelphia in two seasons, the honor and reputation of the Saric name dictated he would. And while Dario does not command headlines, his contribution forged the 28 wins last season when neither Simmons nor Embiid could play. So too, he is finding his role this year.