Most Productive People – Joel Embiid – 2022 NBA scoring champion, Philadelphia 76ers

"I was scared that I wasn't going to be good enough"

- 

Basketball players can do this job for only 20 years. So I don’t have a lot of time to accomplish what I want. Every game is a big game for me. I’m always going to find ways to make myself better, but I think it’s because I feel like I haven’t accomplished anything. I haven’t won a championship. When I got [to Florida, from Cameroon], I was 16. I had just started playing basketball. I didn’t know English. That was the first time being away from home and having to take care of myself. I wasn’t expecting to get to the NBA. I just wanted to come to high school and get a scholarship for college. The main thing that I dealt with was not even basketball. I lost my little brother in 2014 out of nowhere. That was a big shock. Then being hurt for two years [with a broken foot] and not being able to get on the court was hard. But you’ve got to keep working hard, even through those injuries. I’m Catholic. I go to church. I pray. My mindset was always like, Hey, I just got to take care of what I got to take care of and whatever happens, happens. Sitting and watching during that time helped me. People had been waiting for me for so long. I was scared that I wasn’t going to be good e