France’s national team might get some big name acquisitions including Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid. According to the Associated Press, Embiid is considering suiting up for France at either the 2023 World Cup or the 2024 Olympics. Joel Embiid, who was born in Cameroon, holds French citizenship.
He is also contemplating playing for Team USA. He recently obtained U.S. citizenship. Joel Embiid played his high school basketball in Florida for both Montverde Academy and The Rock School. He attended one year at the University of Kansas before declaring for the NBA draft.
Embiid has developed into one of the best players in the NBA and a perennial MVP candidate. He’s played his entire career with the Sixers to this point.
This past season he averaged a career-best 30.6 points per game, 11.7 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.5 blocks while shooting 49.9 percent from the field and 37.1 percent from three-point range.
Should the Sixers star decide to play for France, he might not be the only big addition to the national squad. Current sensation Victor Wembanyama might also decide to play during the World Cup and on to the Olympics.
Embiid and Wembanyama would be joining a French team that won a silver medal at the 2020 Olympics. The roster features current NBA players Rudy Gobert, Evan Fournier and Nicolas Batum with former NBA player Boris Diaw as the team's general manager.
The rest of the world has slowly been catching up to the U.S in basketball and adding a player the caliber of Embiid would go a long way towards France being able to compete with the Americans on a national stage.
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