Will he wear red, white and blue or blue, white and red?
As Joel Embiid gets ready for another season with the Philadelphia 76ers, the reigning NBA scoring champion is in high demand for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Embiid was born in Cameroon, but he also holds French and, just recently, American citizenship. French national team coach Vincent Collet is pressing Embiid to play for the home team in Paris.
“I know he met some of our players to discuss,” Collet said. “I think he should play with us. But we will see. We will respect his decision whatever it is.”
In July, the NBA star was granted citizenship by France as “a foreigner whose naturalization is of exceptional interest.” It appeared Embiid would suit up for France at the Paris Games and potentially the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup in the Philippines.
But a new suitor entered the arena last month when Embiid revealed he was recently sworn in as an American citizen.
“I’ve been here for a long time,” he told The Associated Press a few weeks ago at 76ers training camp in Charleston, South Carolina. “My son is American. I felt like, I’m living here and it’s a blessing to be an American. So I said, why not?”
So will he be Team USA or Team France? Embiid insisted it’s too early in the process to make a decision, but he can’t play for both, so a decision will need to be made at some point.
Former NBA player and current French national team general manager Boris Diaw has also been in discussions with Embiid about playing for France.
While the Americans are likely the gold medal favorite with or without Embiid, the French would have a very strong roster with him and would certainly pose a formidable threat to another U.S. win.
France won the silver medal in Tokyo 2020 and their team will likely feature NBA players Rudy Gobert, Evan Fournier, Nicolas Batum and top NBA draft prospect Victor Wembanyama. Adding Embiid could be the final piece to improve France one more spot on the Paris 2024 podium.
“Now he has both nationalities, and he has to choose one basketball nationality, which is not the same,” Collet told The Associated Press. “So, that is a choice. Nobody can do anything to change it.”
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