Joel Embiid is a gift to the game of basketball. He’s a guy who is one of the best players in the NBA, and he has a real chance to become the league’s most valuable player this year. He is an unstoppable force on the court, so perhaps you won’t be too surprised by the fact that he is just as ruthless outside of it. Even when he’s playing video games. Against small children.
A story by Jason Jenks, Rich Hofmann and Rustin Dodd about The Athletic was published today, which focuses on stories about Embiid told by those who were closest to him during his time in the NBA: his coaches, teammates and mentors.
There are a lot of interesting things about what makes him such a fierce competitor, stories about the work he did to overcome the injury, and that he started playing sports so late (Embiid did not start playing basketball in his native Cameroon). until he turned 16).
But be that as it may, you can constantly read about such things on sports sites, and today I’m here to share a very funny story related to video games. Two of the people interviewed for the article were Billy Lange, a Sixers assistant from 2013 to 2019, and his wife Alicia, who remember inviting Embiid to lunch one night and the dude showed up with a backpack ready for work:
Billy Lang, assistant coach of the 76ers: My wife Alicia and I have four sons. He takes a car service, arrives, and Alicia cooks for him. He has this backpack with him. He says to my boys, “Do you guys want to play video games?” Of course they will say yes. And he pulls out his PlayStation.
Alicia Lang: He put it literally on the main TV in my house. He wanted everyone to see how badly he beat them.
Billy Lang: When I say he beat up my kids, it’s not mercy. I think he won Madden’s game 98-6.
Alicia Lange: At that time, my children were 7, 9 and 10 years old.
Mark Lange, Billy and Alicia’s son: Every time he got a turnover, he said something to my face. One day he went to the toilet, and I blocked his controller, and he was furious.
Alicia Lang: No mercy.
Billy Lang: Then he goes to play (NBA) 2K, which has all these angles, and my kids always played at an angle, like you’re watching a game on TV. But Joel plays from the main angle. He beat them by about 200 points. He was adamant and talked nonsense. “I can’t guard me. You can’t stop.” All that. Just giggling. Incredible. While my wife cooks for him.
Alicia Lane: He killed them and laughed all the time. He cut all the kids out of the game.
