What if, at the next 2024 Games, the French basketball team presented itself with NBA star Joel Embiid in its ranks? According to RMC Sport, the Cameroonian would have initiated administrative procedures in France. A stay in France “would be expected by the end of June to finalize the file”it is specified in the article.
“I know that he has personally started naturalization procedures and that he would then like to be able to play for France, cconfirm with The Team the former captain of the Blues, Boris Diaw, converted general manager of the selection. That being said, we are not putting the cart before the horse and we are waiting for these steps to succeed.” If this is the case, the regulations of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) allow each country to present only one naturalized player in its workforce. France does not currently have any.
“I have always been a fan of France”
At 28, the imposing pivot of the Philadephia Sixers (2.13m, 127 kilos), still in the playoffs this season, simply offers his best basketball: we are talking about the best scorer for the 2021-2022 financial year (30 .6 average points per game) in the NBA, among the favorites for the title of MVP (best player) of the year. In short, one of the best players on the world board.
Interviewed in 2018 by the Team On his link with France, the native of Yaoundé, who left for the United States at the age of 16, said this: “I have a lot of family in France. Uncles, aunts… I went there when I was young to spend two months on vacation. […] I have always been a fan of France in general. The fact of speaking French, the family there, my father and my mother are in France maybe three times a year and wanted to buy a house or an apartment there.
What does the blue locker room think?
Suffice to say that the prospect of seeing him with the Blues is experienced as a real earthquake in the basketball microcosm. A potential association with Rudy Gobert in the racket would make the Blues more than ever real candidates for international trophies. But the naturalization of the Cameroonian interior would also raise a whole host of other questions. Starting with the uncertainty linked to his integration into the blue locker room, where the possibility of seeing the superstar put on the tricolor jersey could split.
This is not the first time that the basketball superstar, who has never played for Cameroon, is considering a selection with Les Bleus. In 2018, contacts existed between representatives of Embiid and members of the France team. At the time, Tony Parker was against it. Evan Fournier also: “For me, playing for a country you have no ties with is disturbing. The national team is not just a sporting challenge. It’s not against Joel. It bothers me when the other selections do it, so it’s valid for the Blues. Then, respect for Rudy (Gobert), where is it? And the others who make sacrifices every summer for the France team?had struck the tricolor winger on Twitter.