Joel Embiid on Arsenal, Real Madrid, and World Cup 2026: Switch the Play 10/23/25

0:00You're listening to the Men in Blazers Media Network, Suboptimal Radio. Go on up, obviously everybody wants to be a striker because it's fun to score goals. Once I figured out I was getting a little too tall, I like being in the midfielder. Guys like, yeah, yeah, two way. Big body, controlling the game, making the right passes, getting back on defence. Kind of like an all-around player.

0:29Today we got Joel Embiid. I'm Larry Nance. And I'm Roger Bennett. Joel Embiid, the samuleto of the NBA. Switch the Play is presented by our great friends over at Alipop. My guest today is a seven-time All-Star, MVP, two-time NBA scoring champion and gold medal winner on the 2024 US Olympic team. His journey to the NBA from Cameroon would make an inspiring movie script. But on top of it all, he's also a lifelong, madly passionate football fan, a man who has enough room in his heart for both Real Madrid and Arsenal Football Club. Indeed, as a kid, he believed he could have Ronaldo-level skills for real.

1:09But at seven foot tall and 280 pounds, he's become a gent who makes even Newcastle's beanpole striker, Nicolas Fulton Marder, look a little bit like Spud Webb. It's a joy to welcome back Mr. Joel Embiid. What's up, Baj? How you doing? Thank you. Thank you for having me. It's a joy to be with you, man. You're speaking to us from Villanova. 12th NBA season lies ahead. How are you feeling? I'm good. I'm good. Everything's been going pretty good so far. Played a scrimmage that, you know, every year we organise for the fans. Still being patient, you know, taking everything slowly, but everything looks good so far.

1:49May that long continue, but we are here to talk about the football. And you grew up in Yaoundé, capital of Cameroon, West Central Africa, a country where football, soccer is the dominant sport, largely because the national team, the indomitable Lions, were so magnificent. And you were a kid when Cameroon won back-to-back continental tournaments, Africa Cup of Nations, teams in 2000 and 2002 with the legendary Samuel Eto 'o, Rigoberts Song, legends of the game. Take us back there. What do you remember about watching those games and what you dreamed of? Once you're born, I think the first thing that's put in your hands is a soccer ball.

2:31So I wanted to be a soccer player, obviously. But obviously growing up on the game and watching our national team, you know, at the African Cup winning, one that I really remember was the one against Senegal in a penalty. Just watching that generational player, obviously you want to be at that level. And that's all you know. That's how we lived. I remember those moments. I think some of the most memorable moments were probably, I mean, the whole country. When Camus was playing, everybody was home. Everybody was cheering. You could hear the whole country, like before anything, it was so silent.

3:11And then as soon as we scored, I mean, you could hear just the whole country just cheering. And that's what you used to live for. And, you know, that's what I wanted to do growing up. Grease up those telephone poles. I mean, I know you wanted to be Samuel Ete was a kid, right? A striker. Can you just tell listeners who didn't have the opportunity to see him play? What was he like to watch Ete? I mean, it was fun. He was the leader. You had a couple of guys. Wiggle Basson was a captain. But Ete obviously was the best player. One of the leaders watching him, taking us to the promised land. You look at those role models and then obviously what he accomplished, you know, playing Barcelona, Inter.

3:53And, you know, you look at that, you're like, I mean, he reached the highest level possible. Could have possibly won a Ballon d 'Or, but I think, you know, he reached the highest level you can reach at that level. So just watching him, you look at those role models and, you know, that's who you want to become. What kind of a player were you like? Eight-year-old Joel. Is it a Premier League or Champions League player that you compare yourself to? Growing up, obviously, everybody wants to be a striker because it's fun to score goals. You know, I think once I figured out I was getting a little too tall, I like being the midfielder.

4:30Guys like Yaya Toué, big body. That's where I kind of saw myself. Midfielder controlling the game, making the right passes, getting back on defense, getting the stops. It's kind of like an all-around, you know, play. Yaya Toure was an incredible mix of the physical and the intelligent, the mental. He was a big body bully. Larry Nance, my friend, says that that's what it's like to play against you in the NBA, Joel. He described you as a mountain. He said you were the hub. Yeah, I mean, I try my best. Yeah, I think, you know, IQ is a big thing. But, you know, obviously the physical ability, being that size and being able to do, you know, everything on the basketball court.

5:14That's what I always pride myself on. you know playing like a god playing like a big just mixing it up based on matchups using my size the iq uh yeah that's you know you look at someone like yaya uh you know that's you know that's who he was you said also and i love this that it was on the football field as a kid that you learned to create almost a tough guy persona it's where you learned to snarl on the field. Could you take us there? Yeah, I mean, growing up, obviously when you're the tallest, always at your age, for the guys that you're playing against, you're always going to be kind of like, you know, somewhat the strongest or whatever, or intimidate a lot of people.

5:58On the soccer field, or football field, I always use that to my advantage, scaring people off. You know, kind of, I don't like being a bully, but at times I was kind of like being a bully on the football field. This is your quote. You once said, I'd put my arms out, make this mean face, try to scare everybody. I kind of liked that they were afraid of me. Yeah, I don't like bullies, but yeah, at times, you know, you got to show, you know, where you are as an advantage. I love another story that you tell about this time, that your parents, God bless them, demanded that you focus be on your schoolwork.

6:38They were like, no soccer, homework, homework, homework. And so you learned this trick. You'd scatter your homework on the table when you got home. Tell us the story because it's a baller move. Kids watching learn from Joel here. It was usually after school. Obviously, I was never allowed to be outside our home. I was always, you know, I was forced. I had to be at home at all times. So when I would come back from school, if my parents were not home yet, especially my mom, I would make sure that I come home, arrange everything that needs to be arranged, schoolwork, on the table, and just arrange everything because it got to the point where, like, I almost have, like, lookouts.

7:23I also knew the sound of my mom's car. So, like, if she was, like, a couple feet away, like, you know, very far, actually, I could know that was my mom. So while I was playing football, I used to first have lookouts and then but then again i also you know knew the sound of a car and as soon as i just heard the sound of a car because the football fair was actually next you know next to my house yeah soon as i as soon as i heard the sound of the car and you know the look at us was like joe joe your mom i would just obviously i can't just run home because it's the same street as she was driving it.

8:05Yeah. And I had to cross the street so I would have to let her go past and then as soon as she goes past, run fast. We had, you know, two gates. You know, the main gate was at the top of the hill and the second gate was like at the bottom of the hill. Always make sure the second gate obviously was wide open and as soon as she passed, run fast to the second you know, cross the street, run fast to the second gate run run quickly wash my feet the time that she took to park her car because the way she was parking her car she always had to like go back in reverse and park the car that way so it kind of took you know from the town and just go back you know run run fast obviously i was playing in you know the dirt and everything so i had to you know it got to the point where like i was uh i was a I fit quick, quick, quick, like do, you know, make sure I was clean and then just go sit on the table, act like I was, you know, I was studying the whole time.

9:08This is like the finale of Ferris Bueller, Barney, on a nightly basis. This is what kids watching Joel means by sports IQ. This is the level. This is the level of commitment. So when the growth spurt happened for you, Joel, that must have been both incredible because your body was changing, but it must have been a bit sad for you because this thing that you were so good at, soccer, you suddenly didn't have the body to play. I don't remember when it actually happened, but I've always been the tallest. So you get to a certain level where you grow. I mean, I started playing basketball at 16. I still had those dreams of playing football.

9:46Peter Crash was one of those tall guys that you look at, but there's not a lot of those guys. So you get to a certain age where you're so tall that you start looking at yourself. So I feel like, maybe it might not be meant for me. And then I just happened to be lucky that my dad finally allowed me because he was against it. He never let me try to play basketball. And then at 16, that's when he finally allowed me to try. And then I guess the worst is history. Was there a moment of sadness for you in that period where you lost the ability to play the game you loved? Yeah, I mean, you grow up, you basically, you know, I grew up wanting to be a football player.

10:27That's your dream. You look at, you know, all those guys, the role models, you know, one of my, you know, favorite players, Zidane. You know, you look at those guys, you're like, I want to be like them. You know, those are the guys. So basically the sport that you want to play is football. But you get to a point where you start to realize slowly that, one, I was pretty good, but I don't know. I would have never been, you know, a star, a superstar like those guys. But you get to the point where you kind of realize that maybe, yeah, maybe you might make it, maybe you might not, but you're definitely not going to be as good as those guys.

11:10And then second, you're also too tall. And the percentage of people that are that tall and also making it to that level and succeeding is, you know, under probably 1%. There's not a lot of, you know, Ibrahimovic, Peter Crouch, and now I'm telling all those guys. So you started with a lie slowly that, that might not be it. But then again, at the time, I was also playing volleyball. You know, volleyball was another thing. I was actually supposed to, I got so tall to the point where I was playing volleyball, and volleyball was actually going to be the escape, you know, just playing volleyball. and I think at some point I was going to go to Europe and keep going with the volleyball career and end up probably being a pro somewhere.

11:59Joe Allen beat the volleyball road not taken. That's incredible. I would have loved you to keep doing football and make it a game that's only played above the rim. You just said the amazing thing that you didn't even pick up a basketball until you were 16 years old, which is amazing because we now see footballers break through into the Premier League. Arsenal's Max Dowman just made his debut in the Premier League age 15. I mean, a kid is terrorizing Premier League defenders. When you watch Max Dowman and realize you didn't even learn to play the game that you now excel at until he'd already become a professional, what does that make you think?

12:33It's crazy. I mean, but then again, those guys, they've been playing, you know, since I was three years old, five years old. So, and then they've been part of academies, you know, since that time, since they were kids. So, yeah, it's kind of crazy when you think about it. He just made it as a 15-year-old. And, you know, in my sport, I didn't stop playing until I was 16. And a lot of times that's when I struggle with, you know, because I got a son and, you know, he loves basketball. But then again, in my head, I'm like, there's a lot of different cases. There's a lot of people that start so early.

13:17And then by the time they get to this age, it feels like they've already reached their prime by 16. Especially once you start playing against guys that are more physical and more athletic or on the same level as you. That's when you start seeing who's actually good. So that's why a lot of times I struggle. I'm not going to push sports on him. The only thing that I push on him is football. Like he plays football every Sunday. But, you know, anything else, basketball, tennis, whatever, I'm not going to push it on him. It's only if, you know, he wants it. And he seems to be in love with basketball.

13:58But that's where I struggle where I'm like, well, I started at 16. And then, you know, maybe I was lucky. I mean, it takes a lot of work to be able to make it to the NBA within three years of starting playing basketball. Maybe a little bit of luck, but, you know, it took a lot of, you know, a lot of work. So that's where you like, well, well, if I started at 16, why, you know, should any kid start playing basketball like six years old? You know, that's where you got to kind of find that balance. But yeah, you know, going back to him, you know, making it at 15 and he's good. The first game he came in, didn't he get like a penalty or something like that?

14:42He made an instant impact. He terrorized the back. No, he was, I mean, I was watching. I'm like 15 years old, first appearance with the pros. And then he's already, he came in just dribbling around everybody. I'm like, whoa, he's going to be good. Larry Nance once told me he watched your footwork on the basketball court. and he said that he sees the footwork of a footballer. Yeah, there's a lot of similarities. Akeem was another one that started so late and made it into basketball and he kind of credits his football skills to be able to get better so fast. I think, yeah, you could see that. I think there's a lot of similarities where it was easy and then I've always been the type of guy to observe and then you show me one thing and I'm able to do it after one or two tries and just pick stuff up so fast.

15:39But then again, if you're not coordinated enough or if you don't have a good footwork, that's not going to be possible. And that goes back to football, using your feet and having soft feet. When you began in the NBA, you mentioned the great Hakeem Alarjoan. you looked up to two players Hakeem and Kobe who were both obviously elite winners but they both loved football growing up and I wondered whether that was just coincidence for you Kobe is actually the reason why I wanted to play basketball I remember watching the finals and I was like man I like this and Lakers were my favourite team and then Kobe was the guy and then from that moment that's what I want to do I want to play basketball because I also saw a lot of tall guys.

16:26I'm like, well, I'm pretty tall too. And, you know, this sport seems to be extremely fun. So that's what I want to do. So from that time, that's when I was like, I want to be a basketball player. But my dad didn't allow me because he wanted me to be a volleyball player. And then it took, you know, four or five years for him to finally let me play basketball. basketball. So Kobe was like the guy for me where I was like, you got me into this. So, and then obviously, Akeem. One of the first steps that I ever got in was a collection of the best big men in history, you know, with all the moves that we're doing.

17:08But Akeem stood out to me. You look at his story. 15 years old, I think that's when he started playing soccer, grew up in Nigeria. you know, Africa and came over to the state and what is accomplished. That was the perfect story to kind of model and follow. Let's talk about Joel Embiid, the football fan, because you are mad for the game. Take us back to the beginning and how you chose Real Madrid as your team. Was that back from like day one, young Joel Embiid? Yeah, yeah. I think growing up, I like winners. You know, I hate losing. so it was easy to kind of go for Madrid because of the rich history of always winning the Champions League, La Liga's and everything they've ever accomplished, the time of the Galacticos.

18:01That's when I really, really fell in love with Real Madrid, all the superstars that they had and the way they played the game, so fun and just a bunch of great players just put together and just playing their best. So much talent they have right now. Vinicius Jr., Rodrigo Mbappe. I know you're a massive Jude Bellingham fan. They've got a new coach, Xabi Alonso. He's got to make it all click together like the LeBron, Dwayne Ray, Chris Bosh, Miami Heat and not have them just be like kind of 2021 Brooklyn Nets. Yeah. Yeah, I think, you know, and it's taken time. But, you know, so far they look pretty good.

18:41Obviously, Kylian Mbappe has been on the tier. I mean, every single game I'm watching, he's like scoring one, two goals and just killing it. And, you know, obviously just building a team around him. And obviously the system that, you know, Xavi wants to play, especially for that collection of talent. They're not really suited for it, but they're willing to learn that they've adopted and they play so well. That type of pressing style. And the one thing about winning, you got to do whatever it takes to win. You cannot win playing your own way. I'm sure Kylian likes to just attack and not get back on defense.

19:22Like most forwards, but he's taking on that role of doing more for the better of the team. Same thing with Vinicius and all those guys. Valverde is another guy. I don't know why he never gets tired. I mean, he's all over the place. It's like 90 minutes is like offense, defense, wide runs, and always doing everything on the court. And obviously, Drew has been hurt, but, you know, he just got back, you know, obviously, same thing, you know, that rate, you know, of, you know, doing everything on the field, you know, offensively and defensively. So, great collection of talent. And, you know, but I think they also understand, you know, that they kind of have to get out of themselves to be able to win.

20:12But Charles is a great coach. You're also an Arsenal supporter. And I know that passion came from the history of signing incredible French players like Thierry Henry, Robert Perez, even Olivier Giroud. Right now, they're the ultimate nearly team. I mean, so many painful near misses. Can you put into words what it is that you love about them? The youth, Mikel Arteta has done a great job coming in and putting his system in place. Obviously, to be able to win takes a lot. And to where he started, to where he's now. I think last year, for example, one of the missing piece was they just didn't have enough death.

20:51This year, they're much deeper than they were last year, which is going to give them a better chance to be able to accomplish some of the stuff, winning the league and whatever the Champions League. But like I said, same thing with, you know, Real Madrid. Obviously, Real has more talent, but I think, you know, Arsenal just playing together, everybody doing their job and the pressing style and, you know, and the defense, which is probably, I think the defense is the key to everything. And that's been great the last, you know, two or three years. yeah and then obviously the forward spot finally having I know Mourinho has been good and I don't know how he found his way to always score goals but now you have an actual forward that's really good.

21:44Jokka Rez what's your favourite Arsenal player right now? Right now I like Odegaard and Saka yeah probably between those two Saka obviously the most popular one But I think Odegaard is the key. He just sets up, you know, just like, you know, when you look at the Man City days of them dominating, it was all about De Bruyne, you know, KDB. Setting up everything, I see Odegaard as the same thing. I think he's the key. Stays healthy. And I think that's, you know, that's how they're going to win. You picked two guys who were quite fascinated by the NBA also, Odegaard and KDB. KDB, NBA obsessed.

22:30Your Arsenal, they've come second, incredibly three times on the run, just spent$340 million to try and build out that squad depth. Can Arsenal Football Club win the Premier League? Yeah, for sure. With how deep they are this year, I think they can. Obviously, you need to do your job and do the right things, but a little bit of luck comes into it too. Got to stay healthy. Last year, soccer missed a big part of the season. I think everybody stays healthy. All the guards already missed a little bit of time. But I think everybody stays healthy. We got a pretty good chance, especially Liverpool doesn't look as strong as last year.

23:13That's a big part of it. But he's going to be between those two. I still wouldn't rule out Man City because they always find a way. Chelsea looks pretty good too. Man United looks terrible, thankfully.

23:32I didn't know where you were going with. It looks like they're going to be stuck back there for a while. There is a duality of supporting two clubs. Last time you came on, you said that you'd root for Madrid over Arsenal if they ever played each other. and then it just so happened that two teams met in the Champions League quarterfinals last season. I need to know, how did you experience it? Did you just totally switch off the Arsenal side of your heart? I didn't. I'll be honest with you, I didn't watch the game. I couldn't. I couldn't watch the game. I just looked at the score. Madrid comes first and then Arsenal.

24:18But I support gladly that obviously in different leagues. So it's easy to just support, you know, both of them. But when they did play last year, I was so mad when the draw came out and, you know, they had to play each other. I was like, I can't believe this. Like, even my teammate, Nafal Saka, they were giving me a lot of crap about it. So I was like, God. And then I actually have Bonner, he's a huge Arsenal fan. and then he was like, oh, what you going to do? What you going to do? I'm like, yo, don't worry about me. So I didn't end up watching the game. I just looked at the score. Arsenal won.

25:01I was happy. But, you know, it's a win-win situation. I mean, you're not happy for Madrid, but then again, your other team won. It's in Declan Royce, who had never scored a free kick. Oh my God, he scored two. Yeah, it was like watching Shaquille O 'Neal suddenly bury 20 straight three throws. It was that astonishing. But he's so good. Obviously, he takes care of the corners and he has it. But the way he scored, especially the first one, it was unbelievable. And I watched the highlight. If it wasn't for Courtois, it would have been probably, especially, what was it? Was it the first or second game?

25:45Arsenal could have probably scored 10 goals. if it wasn't for Courtois. Courtois, another massive NBA fan. God bless. The reverse of you is amazing. Yeah, I know. I know pretty well. He's come to a couple of games here and fell here actually to watch one of our games. And then obviously I caught up with Dan Chouamini. I do need to say, talk about teammates who love football. Your coach, Nick Nurse, recently went to Manchester to visit Pep Guardiola at the Manchester City training ground. No, I didn't know that. I was going to ask, as he talked about it, I wondered whether Pep was trying to make Erling Haaland some kind of NBA center.

26:18No, I didn't know he went to visit the main city. I know Joe Mazzola, that's another big football fan. Massive close friend of Pep. We've had Joe come on and talk about that friendship. I'm going to ask Nick what he found out, because I'm genuinely fascinated to hear his side of the conference. Erling Haaland would make some incredible NBA center though, right? Yeah, I mean, he would. you still got to be able to you still got to be able to do this it's not just about being fast and you know just like you're going to get to that level and there's stronger players than you there's more athletic players than you, now you still got to be able to make the ball go on the hook it could but it's not just about the physicality and you know that ability I do have to shout out my favourite ever tweet of yours joel i just want to speak into existence this is a real joel mb tweet and i love you for this you wrote peter drury you are a treasure sir yeah um i'm just gonna ask you what what do you love about about peter drury's bar i don't even know how that's playing there's a few guys so when i watch sports a lot of people don't care about the announcers and you know i really pay attention to everything and I like listening when I watch sports like I have to be by myself or in an empty room so I can hear those guys talk it's like it's the same thing and you know I'm a big baseball fan you know anytime Joe Davis is doing the game I'm like I gotta tune in that's why like I watch every Dodgers game Phillies game in basketball uh Kevin Harlan when he's doing the game I'm like oh man Like, you know he's going to say something that's going to be like, whoa, he's going to give you chills.

28:09That's the same thing with Peter Drouy. Like, when he does the game, like, just in his analogy, like, I don't even know how he comes up with it. Like, I would love to talk to him one day and be like, before every game, like, do you, like, write stuff to say or he just comes naturally? And how does he come that naturally? I mean, the stuff that he says and the way he says it, it's just so beautiful. Joel I love you I will make that conversation happen because we had him on the show I asked him that question he swears he writes nothing down I do believe Peter Fury might be one of the world's greatest spoken word poets I mean he has to he's like probably like Shakespeare I don't read books but I know Shakespeare I mean he might be better than Shakespeare I'm going to make that conversation happen this season Joel and Peter He's amazing.

29:05I don't know why he comes up with this stuff, but it's beautiful. World Cup's coming here. I do want to touch upon this because six games are going to be in Philadelphia, five in the group stage, one round of 16 game. Can you describe the Joel Embiid excitement levels between zero and 10? And how do you think it's going to change football in the United States? I mean, football has already changed a lot. I mean, there's more fans than there were a couple of years ago. I think, you know, But, you know, it started with even the Premier League, you know, Fan Fest, you know, that they do every single, you know, Sundays.