76ers' Joel Embiid Says Soccer, Not Basketball, Is His First Love

The defending NBA MVP praised the Beautiful Game as he recalled his childhood in Cameroon.

Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid knows ball—and not just the basket variety.

The six-time All-Star and reigning NBA MVP played soccer and volleyball growing up, intending to go pro in the latter before basketball beckoned. However, he maintains an affinity for the other sport he spurned—and he extolled the Beautiful Game in an interview with Roger Bennett of Men in Blazers posted Tuesday morning.

"To be honest, I love football more than basketball," Embiid said. "I wish I was a football player."

Embiid grew up in Cameroon, a soccer-crazy nation with five African titles and eight World Cup berths to its name. During the center's formative years, Bennett pointed out, Cameroon won African titles in 2000 and 2002 and an Olympic gold medal in Sydney in '00.

"I'd rather be a football player than a basketball player. That's how much I love it. There's nothing close to a bigger sport in the world, nothing close to it. I like the concept of a team. In basketball, if you have 2 good players you can win but in football, the team has to be… pic.twitter.com/NXoXarFsm1

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"It was the best," Embiid said of his childhood. "I don't know if it's the same as it used to be, but I remember growing up every game—it didn't matter if it was a friendly game, or a big game... You could tell the whole nation was screaming after every goal."

Embiid remains an avid Arsenal and Real Madrid fan, and expressed to Bennett that soccer is more than a diversion for him.

"I'd rather be a football player than a basketball player. That's how much I love it," Embiid said. "There's nothing close to a bigger sport in the world, nothing close to it. I like the concept of a team. In basketball, if you have two good players you can win but in football, the team has to be together."