2023-10-06 11:09:08
It’s the end of a soap opera that should never have started because in the end, no one really believed it. Joel Embiid, the latest NBA MVP, the powerful interior of the Philadelphia Sixers, has chosen not to choose France to play in the Olympic Games next summer. Benefiting from a triple Cameroonian, French and American passport, he said “Yes” to Team USA for Paris 2024.
He joins a selection of Avengers which will, if confirmed, be completely unplayable on French soil in a few months. Who can beat, in fact, a major 5 with LeBron James, Steph Curry, Kevin Garnett, Jayson Tatum, Joel Embiid to name a few? All these guys said they were interested in the France trip. If he wanted to give himself a chance at a gold medal, Embiid made the right choice. A decision that he thus justifies.
“It was a difficult decision,” the Pennsylvania center said during a training camp on the night of Thursday to Friday. Obviously, I like all three options. I love my country (Cameroon), I love it very much. But I really wanted to compete in the Olympics. This is my goal and my dream. » According to him, France only came in third position among its options behind the United States and Cameroon, its country of origin which is not guaranteed to compete in the Olympic tournament. The African selection must first go through a formidable qualifying tournament. The United States is obviously already qualified, as is France, the organizing country.
“Add to that my son (Arthur, born 2020) is American and I’ve been here for so long. » Aged 29, the Philadelphia Sixers star arrived in America at the age of 16. “I want to pay tribute to my son who was born in the United States. I want my boy to know that I played my first Olympic Games for him, he says. I felt like over the last few years, since he was born, every decision I made was based on family. I’m really proud and excited about this decision. I am lucky to live in Cameroon, France and the United States. After talking to my family, I knew it had to be Team USA. »
I’m really proud and excited about this decision. It was not easy. I am blessed to call Cameroon, France, and the USA home. After talking to my family, I knew it had to be Team USA. I want to play with my brothers in the league. I want to play for my fans because they’ve… pic.twitter.com/6VHSQTKVl3
— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) October 5, 2023
This decision obviously complicates the task of the Blues in the assumed conquest of the gold medal. It deprives the French team of a magical Embiid-Gobert-Wembanyama trident that made people fantasize. Above all, it strengthens an American Golgoths team that didn’t need that, that’s the biggest problem.
“Did France need him? Not sure “
But in terms of the game, is it such bad news when the players of the French team themselves never really believed in his arrival which, moreover, was not a subject of discussion for them. Even if the federation, in vain, pushed for him to sing the Marseillaise, Embiid never sent positive signals. Naturalized French since the summer of 2022, he immediately gave up the Euro to treat his back and preferred, in the summer of 2023, to get married rather than go to the World Cup.
“France has already played with naturalized citizens,” says someone close to the Blues. But they had a connection with the country: they played there, lived there, had their families, strong links with France. Embiid other than language, he doesn’t have any. He has never lived in France, never played for a French club, has no family here. His French naturalization is a bit artificial. »
Another corrects the impact that the absence of the pivot risks causing. “We had to put an end to this issue which had been ruining our lives for a while,” he assures us. Did France need him that much? Not sure. We have no problem in the interior game with the big guys. We have plenty and good ones with Gobert, Fall, Lessort, Yabusele, Poirier and possibly Wembanyama if we put him there. In the racket we are armored We rather have problems with the little ones, we have a problem with playmaker, we saw it clearly at the World Cup. It’s good to have big kids, but you need little kids to give them the balls. Did we need Embiid? Not sure. »
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