Joel Embiid: 7 Feet, 280 Pounds and Dribbles Like a Guard

Some of Embiid’s earliest lessons came via YouTube. In addition to studying footage of Hakeem Olajuwon, who was one of the more dominant centers of his era, Embiid was riveted by Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, slick guards who torched defenders with their quickness and their sleight of hand.

“Those are the guys I’ve always been more attracted to,” Embiid said. “They’re obviously way smaller than me, and I can’t move as well as they do. But I love watching the way they move, how fast they are, and I still do. That’s how I learn, and that’s how I try to add to my game.”

He added: “When you look at the best ballhandlers, it’s not necessarily about dribbling. It’s all about footwork. You need to have good footwork.”

At Kansas, Embiid had good footwork — the years he had spent playing soccer were a big help — along with terrific hands and great vision as a passer, Roberts said. But he was still a work in progress, and Coach Bill Self set healthy boundaries.

“He always liked to dribble it,” Roberts said, “but we weren’t going to let him dribble it.”

As the 2014 N.B.A. draft came into clearer focus, there were exceptions. Whenever scouts rolled through Kansas’ Allen Fieldhouse, Self would have Embiid head to a basket with a defender so that he could handle the ball and “do the Olajuwon stuff” for five or 10 minutes.

“He’d do the Dream Shake to perfection,” Roberts said, referring to Olajuwon’s hallmark spin move.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/20/sports/basketball/joel-embiid-philadelphia-76ers.html