2023-10-10 18:53:31
Jean-Pierre Siutat and Boris Diaw return to the Joel Embiid file and his choice to join the American selection rather than the France team.
With or without Joel Embiid? It will be without. The end of a long series, while the French Basketball Federation (FFBB) had set October 10 as the deadline. The person concerned anticipated the call, confirming in recent days his decision to defend the colors of the United States rather than France or his native Cameroon. A heartbreak and a waste of time and energy for the French leaders.
«I saw it in March 2022, it was very pleasant», Says the president of the FFBB, Jean-Pierre Siutat, this Tuesday at a press conference, at the Parisian headquarters of the body. However, the first contacts date back much longer, 2016 to be precise. Embiid had spoken publicly about the possibility of playing for the French team in 2018 and he obtained French nationality in 2022. Vincent Collet would have seen himself selected for Euro 2022, but Embiid was injured. A few weeks later, the matter took another turn: the 76ers pivot obtained American nationality. From then on, it was obviously much less certain to see Embiid in Blue. Before the World Cup, his absence was justified by the date of his wedding. In fact, he was still hesitant. After seeing LeBron James and other US superstars make an appointment for Paris 2024, he finally opted for Team USA.
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We never went looking for him.
Jean-Pierre Siutat
Did Embiid fool the Blues? “Non“, assures Boris Diaw, general manager of the French men’s team, simply assuring “respect” this choice. “We never went looking for himrecalls President Siutat. He considered playing for the French team. At his request, steps were taken to give him nationality. We have never been a asker. Behind, I am disappointed that we spent so much time and put so much energy on a file that should never have been initiated. For me, it’s a subject that is behind us, we move on to something else», He still says about the defection of a player who weighed 33.1 points and 10.2 rebounds last season.
Team USA unplayable?
With him, the France team would necessarily have been stronger. Above all, we will have to deal with Embiid in addition to “LBJ”, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and others. “The Americans will be arch favoritesagrees coach Collet. They would have been without him, but with Embiid in addition… They have often suffered inside during the last campaigns. He will compensate. They will logically reestablish themselves among the favorites».
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«Joel was asked to give a response before the press conference (on Tuesday). He informed us that he had changed his mind. It’s his rightover Diaw. We never took the initiative, we listened to him, he showed up. He kept telling us he wanted to play for us…until now. Cameroon also wanted, the same for Team USA, which had a lot of arguments. We were ready to welcome him but we take note of his decision“. In the meantime, Embiid comes out of this story with a French passport. However, it is necessarily by having committed to certain things that he succeeded in this sleight of hand, knowing that he has no direct link with France. “I think he committed to wearing the jersey, I don’t know in what terms. It’s clear that his passport was linked to the national team. Hence the great disappointment in terms of the energy spent», breathes Jean-Pierre Siutat again.
I will never provoke artificial naturalization, it is not in our culture.
Jean-Pierre Siutat
Fortunately for the Blues, who are coming out of a cataclysmic World Cup in Jakarta last summer, with a sad elimination in the first round, a 30-point rout against Canada and a cruel but logical setback against Latvia, Victor Wembanyama, himself , is very French. And he has already assured of his presence at the Olympics.
Scalded cat fears cold water: we imagine that the “Fédé” will not immediately start recruiting a naturalized citizen, as Spain or other nations do not hesitate to do. Although, there are the cases of Gaby Williams and Bria Hartley among the women… “It didn’t cool us down because we were never actually hot! It was a player’s wish. We are not in this perspective», underlines Boris Diaw. And Mr. Siutat added: “Joel, we regret that he is not here. I know the ton of work that our services have had… I will go into combat if necessary but I will never provoke artificial naturalization, it is not in our culture“. Of which act.
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