Sixers star and NBA MVP Joel Embiid married his long-time supermodel girlfriend Anne de Paula over the weekend in a lavish wedding in the Hamptons. Joel and Anne have been together for a few years, the story of how they met is really sweet. Neither of them met before and we were invited to a large group dinner by mutual friends in NYC. Joel was already there sitting down when Anne got there so she sat next to him and started talking. She had no idea who he was, as she was from Brazil and didn’t really follow American basketball. During dinner, they started talking and she realized he could speak many different languages and was obviously very impressed. In case you didn’t know, Joel Embiid is from Cameroon (in Africa) and speaks 5 different languages. Joel and Anne hit it off and the rest is history. They also have an adorable son named Arthur after Joel’s late brother. Anne is a very successful model and has been featured in Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition a few times.
The wedding took place in Southhampton New York at the home of former Sixers owner and current Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin. Yes, the same place where the famous “White Party” was over 4th of July weekend where Joel partied with Kenny Chesney. Michael and Joel have been close since Joel came to the Sixers in 2014. Both have said they consider themselves brothers and you can see how much time they spent together over the last decade. Joel came to America alone and didn’t have any family here so Michael stepped in and really took Joel under his wing.
One of the funniest videos of Joel (see below) is when he was on vacation with Michael Rubin and his family and Joel was too scared to go down the water slide. I think it’s important to remember that it doesn’t matter how tall you how, how much money you have, how famous you are, fears and fears, and obviously the water slide was too much.
