After his heroic 34-point effort in Game 7 to push the Philadelphia 76ers into the second round, Joel Embiid shared a special moment with his five-year-old son, Arthur, during his postgame interview on the court at TD Garden.
Just words into his dad’s first answer, Arthur stole the show. “Daddy, look at my tooth,” he exclaimed, pointing to the spot where his missing tooth used to be and bringing a smile to the face of Embiid and teammate Tyrese Maxey.
Arthur patiently waited for a few moments before again reminding his dad about the missing tooth, to which Joel replied with a smile, “I know.”
PSA: ARTHUR LOST A TOOTH 🦷 pic.twitter.com/w9Oyzqurhr
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) May 3, 2026
Arthur Embiid is a regular presence in his father’s celebratory moments. He ran onto the court to meet his father after the 76ers’ win in Game 6 in Philadelphia. As the pair walked off the floor, Arthur took off his shirt to reveal his father’s jersey.
Embiid named his son after his brother, who was killed in his native Cameroon in 2013 after being hit by a truck. Joel Embiid was a rookie with the 76ers at the time.
When I came back to Philly, I kept rehabbing, trying to get better … but I was in a really bad place,” Embiid said of his brother’s death in an article on The Players Tribune. “With Arthur gone, I felt like I had lost my purpose in life. I really just wanted to quit the game and go back home to Cameroon to be with my family. And, you know, it’s not like a movie where someone sat me down and had some conversation with me, or I picked up a basketball and all of a sudden everything was OK.
“I really had to look inside myself to find that joy again. Every single morning, when I woke up, I would tell myself that I had a choice. I could give up, or I could keep trying to take another step forward. I really had to remind myself why I loved the game in the first place.”
Embiid has regularly spoken about the special bond he feels with his son, who was born in September 2020. In his speech after winning the 2023 MVP, Embiid said that “losing my brother and then giving his name to my son meant a lot. My son is the reason why I’m really sitting here.”
Embiid just put together one of the most impressive and important playoff games of his career to extend Philadelphia’s season, with 34 points and 12 rebounds in the 109-100 win. He certainly earned that cute moment with his son in Boston.