Why Joel Embiid Supposedly Curved Rihanna After Trying To Use To Her To Get Into The All-Star Game

Being voted into the NBA All-Star Game is an honor that also comes with a pretty solid paycheck, but Joel Embiid had some extra incentive to get there because of a promise Rihanna may have made. However, things took a very amusing turn after he finally checked that achievement off of his list.

Joel Embiid is currently one of the most talented players in the NBA, as the man who was named the league’s Most Valuable Player in 2023 hasn’t missed the All-Star Game since he was selected for the first time in 2018.

The big man initially made a name for himself while playing at the University of Kansas before he was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers with the third overall pick in the NBA Draft in 2014. His debut was delayed by a couple of years thanks to a foot injury, but he made the All-Rookie Team in 2017 and has been a force to be reckoned with ever since.

While Embiid used his newfound fame to repeatedly shoot his shot at Rihanna shortly after he was drafted, he strongly implied he had his advances denied after she hit him with a counteroffer he was eventually able to capitalize on. However, he got the last laugh.

Joel Embiid claimed he could’ve landed a date with Rihanna after being named to the All-Star Team

In the summer of 2014, Embiid hopped on Twitter to reveal he “was trying to get with this famous girl” only to get shut down after she told him to “Come back when you’re a[n] All-Star.”

While he didn’t explicitly say Rihanna was the woman in question, he’d made it very clear he was trying to land a date with her in the weeks leading up to that tweet, and he’d even got her to follow him on the platform after repeatedly shooting his shot online.

When Embiid’s rookie season finally kicked off in 2016, he lobbied for fans to help him earn a spot in the All-Star Game by reminding them the offer was still on the table (while he only referred to the person in question as his “crush,” most people assumed he was referring to the musical superstar).

Now, it’s worth noting Embiid claimed he wasn’t actually talking about Rihanna in an interview he conducted a few weeks later. However, plenty of people were convinced he was simply covering his tracks when you consider she was seemingly the only unrequited love he’d been vocal about on a consistent basis.

Later that year, he got the chance to make a sales pitch to Rihanna in front of Kelly Rowland in the hopes she’d pass the message along, saying:

“I’m 7’2″. I’m good-looking. Women usually love my accent because I’m from Cameroon in Africa. And I’m pretty intelligent, too. And I’m funny. I love pretty women. I feel good about myself.”

In 2018, Embiid officially punched his ticket to the All-Star Game for the first time. He conducted a postgame interview shortly after learning about the honor, and when he had the chance to send a message to the woman who may or may not have been Rihanna, he revealed he was over it.

During the interview, Embiid revealed he’d decided to move on, saying:

“I mean, she denied me back then, so why go with her again? I have to pass and move on to the next one.”

At that point, Rihanna was in a relationship with a businessman from Saudi Arabia and seems to be pretty content since moving on to A$AP Rocky. However, you still have to wonder what could have been.