Bill Self Knew Joel Embiid was Going to be a Star When He Chased a Teammate Who Pissed Him Off in Practice
Bill Self might arguably have the best eye for talent. Apparently he knew Joel Embiid was going to be a star not because he was killing dudes in 1 on 1 drills, but because he was chasing a teammate around the gym who pissed him off at a high school practice:
Bill Self:
“Hey guys, he learned everything in the 8 months he was here in Lawrence, Kansas.” pic.twitter.com/3K3ewYLZV0
— Oh no he didn’t (@ohnohedidnt24) January 23, 2024
Now I’d argue Bill Self and his story are full of shit if Embiid didn’t already confirm Self’s thoughts on his potential before he even played a game.
From The Player’s Tribune:
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.
He dunked the ball off my head, for real. But I didn’t even tell you the worst part. The worst part was that the entire Kansas women’s hoops team was sitting in the bleachers watching the scrimmage. The whole gym was laughing at me. It was crazy. Seriously, it was like a WORLDSTAR situation.
So I went straight to Bill Self’s office afterward and I said, “I can’t do this. You have to redshirt me. I can’t play with these guys.”
And Bill was like, “What? Are you serious? In two years, you’re going to be the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft.”
Can you believe this guy was one day going to score 70 points in 36 minutes?
Joel Embiid went from this in high school to the NBA’s MVP. pic.twitter.com/htvyUiRLd7
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) May 2, 2023
Now he might be back-to-back MVP.