By Josh Liddick, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Joel Embiid put on a classic Sixers performance on Saturday, as he played for Team Africa against Team World in the third annual NBA Africa Game in Pretoria, South Africa on Saturday.
Embiid, unsurprisingly, starred for his team, leading all players with a game-high 24 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the field. Embiid also finished with eight rebounds and four assists.
Despite Embiid's star performance for his continent, representing the country of Cameroon, Team Africa fell 96-92 in a closely contested matchup.
Just like the regular season showed, Embiid drew a lot of cheers from the crowd especially when he met up with Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside one-on-one once again. Embiid dazzled with his solid ball handling at point-center, dribbling around defenders and setting up his own plays.
Take it all the way, @JoelEmbiid!#HereTheyCome x #NBAAfricaGame pic.twitter.com/XszLVwLetl
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) August 4, 2018
Team Africa was also led in scoring by former Sixer Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot. TLC finished with 16 points.
Embiid played brilliantly for Team Africa, despite Danilo Gallinari's heroics for Team World. Gallinari was named the MVP of the game for his 23 points on 9-of-10 shooting.
Basketball was secondary on the agenda for Embiid and his teammates in Africa during the week. Embiid gave back by taking part in community outreach events honoring the legacy of Nelson Mandela. Embiid helped out with the Basketball Without Borders program, the same camp he participated in 2011.
I feel [it’s] a way for me to kind of give back, and show them how it’s done,” Embiid said, per Sixers.com’s Brian Seltzer. “At the same time, it’s also a way for me to grow the game of basketball in Africa. I feel like we have a lot of talent, undiscovered talent, that can have a chance just like I did. They just need an opportunity.”
Embiid showed on a national stage just how important it is to not only play your heart out for your home country, but also to give back to the community. For as much trash talking Embiid does on the basketball court game in and game out, he's always showing just how great of an overall guy he is off the court.
Before the Sixers begin another season in just a few months, Embiid has demonstrated class on a giant stage as one of the NBA's absolute premiere athletes today.
