When Joel Embiid came to the United States at the age of sixteen, he felt that Americans had no clue about what was going on in the rest of the world. He especially thought they had no clue about Africa other than stereotypes, so the Cameroon native decided to play some mind games with the other kids.

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“When they think about Africans, they think about, you know, just us running around with lions and tigers, and all those other animals. So, when I got to Kansas, I kind of used that to my advantage, talking about how I killed a lion.”

Embiid talked with Adrain Wojnarowski of the Vertical, where he explained continued to explain his thought process. “When they think about Africans, they think about, you know, just us running around with lions and tigers, and all those other animals. So, when I got to Kansas, I kind of used that to my advantage, talking about how I killed a lion.”

The story seemed to leave an impression on the other teenagers.

“‘That’s how I became a man, because at 6 years old, I had to go in a jungle and kill a lion, and carried it on my back to bring back to my village just to show that I’m a man.

“And they bought into it. It might be true or it might be false. I don’t know. But that’s the perception Americans have on Africans.”

Throughout the story he emphasizes multiple times that the incident may or may not have happened but he invites anyone who doubts his toughness not to try him.

“The story might be true or it might be false, nobody would ever know,” he said. “But if anybody tries me, they’re gonna find out.”