Cameroonian professional basketball player Joel Embiid has completed a five-year contract extension worth $148 million with National Basketball Association (NBA) team Philadelphia 76ers in the USA. The 23-year-old centre-man will earn $29.6 million per annum with the possibility of taking home an additional $30 million if he earns an All-NBA first-, second- or third-team selection, or is named MVP in 2017–18.
Born in Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon, Embiid was discovered by another Cameroonian-born NBA player Luc Mbah a Moute, who encouraged him to move to the United States to pursue a career in the sport. After undergoing a college-preparatory programme, he attended the University of Kansas for one year before declaring for the 2014 NBA draft, signing a rookie contract with the Philadelphia 76ers.
However, a broken navicular bone in his foot would rule him out of action for two seasons – 2014-15 and 2015-16. Nicknamed ‘The Process’, Embiid becomes the third Cameroonian-born NBA player after Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje and Luc Mbah a Moute.
He is eligible to play for Cameroon national basketball team and was named in the preliminary team ahead of the 2017 FIBA AfroBasket in Congo.
