Out of Africa: Superstars take similar paths to NBA pinnacle Globe_Sports
Pascal Siakam and Joel Embiid made many of the same stops on their journeys from Cameroon to the NBA.Years before they would square off for opposite sides in their current NBA playoff series between the Toronto Raptors and Philadelphia 76ers, Pascal Siakam and Joel Embiid made many of the same stops on their journeys from Cameroon to the NBA. Yet they didn’t know each other then.
Siakam wasn’t that interested in the camp invitation at the time and nearly declined it. But he thought it could help propel him to the United States, where his older brothers were already playing in colleges. Plus it was a free trip to South Africa to see his sister, who was living there. One of his counsellors at the camp was his now-teammate with the Raptors, Serge Ibaka of Republic of the Congo.
Embiid landed a scholarship to a big-time NCAA program, Kansas, where he stayed one year, played with Canadian Andrew Wiggins and was Big 12 defensive player of the year. Siakam went to lesser-known New Mexico State, where he played two seasons – winning Western Athletic Conference freshman of the year, then player of the year.The 76ers drafted the high-profile Embiid third over all in 2014. He has since been a two-time NBA all-star. The Raptors took Siakam 27th in 2015.
It wasn’t until last summer that the two Cameroonians finally got a chance to get to know one another. Embiid and Siakam both played for Team Africa at the third NBA Africa game in Pretoria, South Africa. During the extensive event, they went back to the BWB camp where they had been campers, to mentor and coach a new crop of kids.
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