From Yaoundé to NBA big-money: Embiid extends 76ers contract

Cameroon-born basketball player Joel Embiid signed a max-level extension with the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday.

Including the two remaining years on Embiid's existing contract and a three-year extension, the full value of the five-year agreement is $301 million, according to multiple reports.

The formal contract extension signing was shared by the team and Embiid on social media Friday morning.

The team didn't announce the financials, but the deal is worth a reported $193 million over three seasons -- $64.3 million annually -- and ends the speculation Embiid could exit Philadelphia at the end of his existing deal.

Embiid, in a statement issued by the team, expressed his gratitude to the fans as well as the John Harris, the owner and managing partner, and to David Blitzer, co-managing partner.

'Drafted from Cameroon'

"I started a Sixer and want to be right here for the rest of my career. I had no idea when I was drafted as a 20-year-old kid from Cameroon how lucky I was to be in Philadelphia," Embiid said in a statement issued by the team.

"Through all the ups and downs, this city and the fans have been everything, and I am so grateful for how they've embraced me. I want to thank Josh, David, and the entire organization. Philadelphia is home and it's time to bring this community an NBA championship."

A youth soccer player, Embiid didn’t pick up a basketball until he was a teenager in Africa, when a friend informed him that very few 7-footers succeed in soccer.

A few months later, Embiid was lured to a basketball camp in the capital of Yaounde run by NBA veteran Luc Mbah a Moute, one of just two players from Cameroon to have played in the NBA.

Parents persuaded

Mbah a Moute persuaded Embiid’s parents to let him move 6,000 miles to Florida, and helped enroll him at Montverde Academy, one of the best high school programs in the country.

He played just 28 games in his lone season at Kansas before leaving for the NBA.

Originally selected by the 76ers with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft, Embiid was named NBA MVP in the 2022-23 season and he won a gold medal with Team USA at this year's Paris Olympics.

He has five All-NBA Team honors, seven consecutive All-Star selections from 2017-24, three All-Defensive Team nods, and twice has been the NBA scoring champion.

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