Behold: Joel Embiid, two-sport athlete. The Sixers center participated in a 5-on-5 full-court scrimmage on Thursday — his first true practice or real NBA action since suffering a torn meniscus last season. This just days after the world discovered Embiid is also an avid tennis player, and to hear him tell it, one with Roger Federer-like ability.
Don't let the first few seconds of video fool you. Embiid's amateurish lobs quickly give way to some real smashes in footage that went viral earlier this week. There's some real power and torque coming off the 7-foot-0, 250-pounder's serve, so much so that for a moment, you're almost able to convince yourself he can go on tour.
Just get a load of this video taken by @DanielJLogan.
As with almost everything Embiid does in public, the footage drew quite a bit of attention. So while he practiced — and reportedly dominated the hardwood — on Thursday, the real question was how good is his tennis game really? Are the Sixers in danger of losing arguably their best player and a 23-year-old superstar to the ATP?
"It's really good," Embiid said of his tennis acumen. "I'm a really good server. They call me the black Roger Federer."
With 19 career Grand Slam titles, Federer is only the most successful and perhaps greatest single tennis player in history. In other words, we don't doubt for one second Embiid is basically just as good.