France wants Sixers star Joel Embiid to play for national team in 2024 Paris Olympics
France coach Vincent Collet said: “I know he met some of our players to discuss. I think he should play with us. But we will see. We will respect his decision whatever it is.”
Joel Embiid has a decision to make after becoming a United States citizen.
The 76ers center could opt to play for the United States in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Or Embiid, who also gained French citizenship in July, could play for France, the host country.
France is hopeful that he’ll choose to do the latter despite being sworn in as a U.S. citizen three weeks ago in Philadelphia, said the French national team coach Vincent Collet.
Before gaining his U.S. citizenship, it was widely believed that Embiid would play for France in the Olympics and possibly in next year’s FIBA Basketball World Cup in the Phillippines.
“Now he has both nationalities, and he has to choose one basketball nationality, which is not the same,” Collet told the Associated Press Thursday. “So, that is a choice. Nobody can do anything to change it.”
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Embiid, a native of Cameroon, said last Thursday it’s too early to think about which country he could play for internationally. However, he must eventually declare a choice to FIBA, the sport’s international governing body, in order to play at the Olympic and/or the World Cup.
The French team will likely feature NBA players Evan Fournier, Rudy Gobert, Nicolas Batum and former Sixer Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot.
“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.”
Embiid, a native of Cameroon, gave a reason for becoming a U.S. citizen on Sept. 29.
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“I’ve been here for a long time,” Embiid, the third pick of the 2014 draft, told the Associated Press. “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?’”
But being an American citizen would also give him the inside track to winning an Olympic gold medal. The United States won gold in each of the past four Olympic games. France is the reigning Olympic silver medalist, losing to the U.S. in the Tokyo Olympics gold medal final game. It would be a daunting opponent for the U.S. with Embiid on its roster.