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The Cameroonian All-Star is only the second
African to earn MVP honors, after Nigerian-American Hakeem
Olajuwon from the Houston Rockets won for the 1993-1994 season,
and said he never predicted a future in the NBA when he began
playing.
"The probability of someone like me you know, started playing
basketball at 15, to get the chance to be the MVP of the league
is, I'd say, negative-zero," he said. "We don't have a lot of
opportunities back in Africa in general to get to this point.
"But, you know, improbable doesn't mean impossible."
The seven-foot titan led the Sixers to their third straight
Eastern Conference semi-final this year, where they led the
Boston Celtics 1-0 ahead of Wednesday's Game 2.
But his career almost never got off the ground. He nearly quit
the sport months after going third overall in the 2014 draft,
when his younger brother died in a car accident.
"I felt like it was kind of my fault because I left Cameroon, I
left, you know, my family. I felt like I should have been there
to do something," said Embiid, who missed the first two seasons
of his career with a broken foot.
"I'm just glad that I pushed through it and I'm here sitting in
front of you guys having accomplished something that a lot of
people don't get the opportunity to."
Embiid, who came second in MVP voting to Denver Nuggets center
Nikola Jokic in the last two seasons, produced an undeniable MVP
campaign this time around, averaging a career-high 33.1 points
per game, with 10.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Toby Davis)
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