Ladies, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid is officially off the market, as he and his longtime girlfriend, Brazilian model Anne de Paula, have officially tied the knot. The two were married in Southampton on Saturday afternoon in a church ceremony away from the City of Brotherly Love in basketball enemy territory of New York.
The pair connected as a couple in 2018 after reportedly meeting through a mutual friend, leading to FaceTiming daily and starting to date. The public had seen Anne during critical moments in Embiid’s career, like consoling him through his tears during the 2019 NBA playoffs Eastern Conference finals when the Sixers lost to the Toronto Raptors from Kawhi Leonard’s highlight reel buzzer-beater; Anne was right there.
Philadelphia Union
Fast-forward, the two share a son, Arthur Elijah, who was born on Sept. 16, 2020, and now the Cameroonian basketball star is bonded in the union.
“He just has this personality where he wants to motivate you,” de Paula said to ESPN in 2021. “His friends, his family and now with Arthur — he pushes all of us to be the best of ourselves. That’s the type of person you want to have around.”
Embiid is equally in love, as he demonstrated on his Instagram during Valentine’s Day in 2019.
“Thank you for dealing with my African crazy a** and allowing me to be ME,” he posted. “I’ve trusted your process, you’ve trusted mine, and it brought us to where we are.”
Mrs. Embiid is different from your typical basketball wife, as she had an entire career before aligning with a basketball player. She is a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model who debuted in the iconic annual novelty issue after winning a 2017 model search via the fan vote. She actually became a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model in 2018 and has been in the issue four times.
Partnership Done. Next Up: Franchise
A trilingual English, French, and Portuguese speaker, de Paula grew up a tomboy playing soccer until her mother persuaded her to pursue modeling. Then things accelerated quickly, and by age 12, de Paula did her first photo shoot, which led to her becoming a signed model at 14.
“I loved sports, but I also liked this girly version of myself. I wasn’t popular in school. I wasn’t successful with the boys,” she said to Fox News. “They never really looked at me like a girl because I was always playing with them. So I just started doing more and more photos until my mom sent me to an agency at 13. So she was the one who got me into it!”
Rumors are swirling that Embiid may jump the Philly ship for another market that can lead him closer to an NBA championship. Ironically, the New York Knicks have been in the rumor mill as a potential destination. For now, Embiid chose his life partner. Next will be the decision to remain Philly’s franchise player or leave for potentially greener pastures.
