Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid cares about basketball, trash talking and his push to win an NBA Most Valuable Player award. Apparently, he may also now have a new girlfriend he’ll need to carve some time away from the training facilities for. Although the Sixers big man has maintained that basketball is where his core focus is, recently a new love interest came to light.
During an exclusive GQ cover story from Clay Skipper, Embiid spoke on a wide range of things, one of which involved doing “background checks” on potential girlfriends. This resulted in a few question marks about the Sixers star’s dating life as a whole and eventually led us to find his apparent new girlfriend, 23-year-old Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Anne De Paula.
Let’s take a look at a few things which jump out linking the two, beginning with comments from the Sixers owner on social media.
Sixers Owner Michael Rubin Catches Joel Embiid on Camera
Embiid was caught in a quick moment with De Paula after a game, and team owner Michael Rubin posted on Instagram, sending some love and a sarcastic jab at the trash-talking center.
One photo won’t necessarily prove anything to be true, but it’s at least a start. Even going beyond that, the relationship between Embiid and De Paula took center stage in China. When the 76ers went overseas this preseason to take part in the NBA China Games, many looked past a moment which showed the model arriving with 7-footer.
Courtesy of the NBA’s official Twitter:
@JoelEmbiid & @BenSimmons25 arrive for @sixers ahead of #NBAChinaGames!
It’s only a quick shot at the very start of the video, but she can be seen standing next to Embiid. Apparently, the relationship is serious enough to where the NBA star opted to bring her on the long trip.
De Paula’s Previous Boyfriend & Photos
According to Bonnie McLaren of The Sun, De Paula previously dated Thet Script singer Danny O’Donoghue. She points out that the model began dating O’Donoghue when she was the love interest in a music video for the song ‘No Good in Goodbye.’
While Embiid and De Paula have yet to be caught together on camera just yet beyond the two photos above, it’s likely to come sooner or later. Here’s a look at a few photos from De Paula’s Instagram account.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BlYW6gnH8RK/?taken-by=annedepaula_
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Joel Embiid Girlfriend: Sixers Star Dating SI Swimsuit Model?