In which jersey will Joel Embiid play his international career? This is a question that weighs more and more in the universe of the orange ball. The pivot of the Sixers, who obtained French nationality this summer but also American quite recently, is now between the Blues and Team USA…
“Let’s say I am Cameroonian, American and French. I have been in the United States for a long time, my son is American, I live here and it is an honor to be American. So I thought… “why not”? » a big week ago, Joel Embiid officially became an American citizen, just a few weeks after obtaining French nationality. So naturally, we immediately asked ourselves the following question:
Rather Team USA or Team France for Jojo?
Huge surprise (no), the US national team has decided to position itself very seriously on the Embiid file. The info comes to us from insider Marc Steinwhich tells us that EDF and USA Basketball “actively covet” the Sixers pivot with a view to participating in the next major international competitions, including of course the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Translation: we are in a battle between Boris Diaw – Vincent Collet on the one hand, and Grant Hill – Steve Kerr on the other. The latter have every intention of rushing into the breach that has just been created, but we can count on Babac to do the maximum in order to see the NBA’s top scorer of last season wear the tricolor jersey one day. Still according to Stein, Boris would indeed already be in advanced discussion with the monster of the Sixers, which potentially gives a head start to the Blues.
But in the end, no matter what we think of this file, it will be Joel’s choice. A choice of luxury given that we are still talking about the last two finalists at the Olympic Games. On the one hand, if he chooses the French team, he will logically form a frontcourt of the turfu with Rudy Gobert and the crack Victor Wembanyama, frontcourt which could compete with any version of Team USA in the future. He would also get the challenge of offering a first Olympic gold medal to the Blues, which is more in Paris. On the other hand, if he opts for USA Basketball, he will further strengthen the best team in the world and maximize his chances of putting gold medals around his neck. Two possibilities, two paths, two possible paths for Embiid, but with in the end a decision which will inevitably weigh very heavily on the landscape of international basketball in the years to come.
Joel Embiid with the Blues or Joel Embiid with Team USA? For the moment the suspense remains whole because Jojo has not yet given any indication of his future in the national team. But we can count on the Ricans to do their utmost to pass the Blues in the race for the pivot, and it is clear that they are not short of arguments.
Source text: Marc Stein