The star center of the Philadelphia 76ers and Most Valuable Player candidate has made an unlikely journey from central Africa to the pinnacle of the NBA
The email landed in Joe Touomou’s inbox one morning in January 2011, and he knew he had to act quickly. “I’ve got to go check this guy out,” he said to himself.
Touomou, a basketball coach and international scout, had been working in the United States as a sports consultant to the US state department. The email was from Didier Yanga, a close childhood friend from back home in Cameroon. It contained pictures of Yanga’s 16-year-old nephew towering above a doorway. He was 6ft 7in, the email said, and had recently taken up basketball. His name was Joel Embiid.
