These Philly-area newlyweds joked about crossing paths with the Sixers in the Bahamas. Then, they got to meet Joel Embiid.

NASSAU, Bahamas — Kierstin and Brian Klenk thought the water slides would be the highlight of their Thursday visit to the Atlantis Paradise Island resort.

Instead, that memorable moment arrived while the Drexel Hill newlyweds wandered a hotel hallway. They happened to run into 76ers players Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and Ricky Council IV.

Their selfie with the group — which Kierstin posted on X with the more-than-appropriate “Best honeymoon ever?” caption — spread rapidly across the platform, with more than 2,300 likes by Saturday afternoon. The chance encounter also epitomized the Sixers’ training camp environment. They were secluded in a ballroom during practices, but because of the resort’s sprawling-yet-interconnected layout, often mingled with unsuspecting vacationers while walking to and from workouts and during down time.

“Everyone that knows us knows we love our Philly sports,” Kierstin wrote in an email to The Inquirer on Friday. “So everyone was so excited to see that this happened to us.”

A friend told the couple at their Sept. 21 wedding that the Sixers would be in the Bahamas at the same time as their trip. Kierstin and Brian joked about running into the team, perhaps at the casino.

They stayed at a nearby hotel but got a day pass to Atlantis to visit the vast Aquaventure, a water park with several pools, slides, and a lazy river. After spending their morning there, they decided to stroll through the indoor portion of the resort. They nearly turned around inside a hallway that linked one hotel to the convention center, where the Sixers had been set up all week.

Then, Brian pointed out “a giant” in a convenience store.

“That giant being Joel Embiid,” Kierstin wrote.

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Maxey and Council, along with assistant director of team security Anthony Jackson, were with Embiid. Brian was wearing a red Phillies Hawaiian shirt, making it clear where the couple was from and prompting an “Aw yeah, go Phillies!” from Embiid, Kierstin said. When they asked for a photo, a post-workout Embiid jokingly said he would do it if they gave him a sweaty hug.

But then the 2023 NBA MVP grabbed Kierstin’s phone, forced everybody to say “cheese!” and snapped the photo.

Kierstin immediately sent the shot to “the biggest Sixers fan I know,” her brother, Bryan Kee. He replied with a “WHAT?!” Kierstin then posted the photo on X but had no idea it would catch fire until it reached 500 likes and garnered a barrage of comments from loved ones and strangers.

“Our friends and family were shocked that we ran into them,” Kierstin said.

Following the Sixers’ final training-camp practice on Saturday, Embiid, Maxey, and Council passed by that same store while taking their familiar route back to their hotel. Kierstin and Brian also left the Bahamas that same day — and will bring an incredible honeymoon memory back to Philly.