Joel Embiid, the all-NBA center for the Philadelphia 76ers, has become a naturalized French citizen according to French authorities. This was a needed, first step towards suiting up for France in the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
His name and birthdate were featured on a list released by the French government last week.
Ex-NBA star and French general manager Boris Diaw confirmed that Embiid had started the naturalization or reintegration process last spring.
A native of French speaking Cameroon, Embiid has never represented the country in any competition, which may expedite the process of switching allegiances.
National team rosters are allowed one naturalized player in the Olympics.
Embiid led the NBA in scoring during the 2021–22 season, becoming the first center since Moses Malone (1982) to average over 30 points per game, while also being the first foreign player to lead the NBA in scoring.
France has multiple NBA players on its roster including: Nicolas Batum, Frank Ntilikina, Evan Fournier and three-time defensive player of the year Rudy Gobert.
Gobert and Embiid could form an impressive ‘twin tower’ lineup that would be a handful for the always Olympic favorite, USA Basketball. Other than the Americans, no other Olympic team has ever had two current All-NBA players on its roster.
During the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, France defeated the U.S. in group play - it was the first loss for the Americans at an Olympics since Athens in 2004. In a tightly contested gold-medal final the Americans extracted revenge against France with an 87-82 victory.
France has won the Olympic silver medal three times in their history (1948, 2000, 2020).
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