Embiid and Wiggins spend a day in front of cameras at rookie photo shoot
The NBA gathered up almost 40 members of its 2014 draft class this weekend in New York for a rookie photo shoot.
Kansas University products Andrew Wiggins — Cleveland’s No. 1 overall pick — and Joel Embiid — Philadelphia’s No. 3 pick — of course featured prominently in the fun.
The shoot marked the first time Embiid appeared in a Sixers uniform. If you look closely in some pictures, you can see his still-protected (and injured) right foot, which kept him from participating in the NBA Summer League and will keep him out of Philly’s lineup most, if not all, of the upcoming season.
While other rookies spent portions of the session putting on an aerial display for photos, basketball cards and an impromptu dunk contest that broke out…
Embiid had to take it pretty easy. At least he got in some work on his sky hook:
The NBA posted tons of images on its Instagram account and other social media platforms. Check out Embiid’s Derrick Rose kicks that he wore for the shoot.
The 7-foot jokester proved that he can at least pretend to be serious, too.
He even autographed some photos.
With no injuries holding him back, Wiggins got to have a little more fun.
Like his KU teammate Embiid, he laced up a fresh pair of kicks for team adidas.
And though posing for all those photos can’t be the most entertaining endeavor…
… Wiggins at least got to see a rough draft of his rookie card.
One can’t help but wonder if his cards will be worth more or less* once he gets traded to Minnesota, which seems almost inevitable at this point.
(*I guess basketball cards are still a thing. Are they actually worth any money?)
The whole photo shoot had to be kind of awkward for Wiggins. Everyone thinks he will be traded to the Timberwolves for all-star power forward Kevin Love before the season even begins, but he had to do all of these promotional photos in a Cleveland uniform, pretending like everything is fine and he and LeBron James will spend the next decade throwing lobs to each other.
Don’t think he hasn’t heard that the NBA’s online store stopped selling his jersey. (Update: A league source told NBC Sports the jerseys were just sold out.)
Unfortunately, someone at the photo shoot thought it would be a good idea to put Wiggins on live TV for an interview. Which led to some uncomfortable moments for the 19-year-old Canadian.
What’s more, Wiggins told the New York Post he hasn’t even spoken with LeBron, adding, “I’m sure he’s busy.”
Now that we’re all sort of feeling bad for Wiggins, let’s end on a happier note. Check out NBA.com’s photo gallery from the shoot.
http://twitter.com/NBAcom/status/496083155925757953/
And take a little time to read some of the NBA rookie Reddit AMA in which Wiggins and Embiid participated during their busy day.
Fellow rooks Marcus Smart of Boston and Noah Vonleh of Charlotte predicted Embiid will be the biggest trash-talker of the class. And the big man from Cameroon claimed he and music artist Rihanna went on a date and had fun.