Embiid to play for France at the 2024 Olympics

Every summer franchises, players, staff members and fans alike take a break from basketball and get into summer mode. Usually this time is mainly for what happens behind the curtains of the NBA, where trades are made, contracts are signed, and where picks are drafted. But there is something that the public missed out on last summer.

Over the summer, Joel Embiid finalized obtaining his French nationality. The Cameroonian born was eligible, as French law stipulates nationality can be granted to foreigners whose naturalization is of exceptional interest. But this is not a random occurrence, Joel Embiid doesn't want to just become a Frenchman, his goal is to play for a contending team for the 2024 Olympics, in order to finally get his piece of silverware he has been waiting for so long .

The current French national team consists of top players like Rudy Gobert, Nicola Batum and Evan Fournier. These players may not seem all star talent, but on the international level are closer to Michael Jordan than the average basketball player. The US previously came head to head with France as they faced off in the 2020 Olympic finals. That year, the US struggled to make it to the finals, whereas France had no problem getting through the competition. Even in the finals, the matchup was tough, even though the US had All Star players compared to France with 2 NBA role players and a DPOY winner in Gobert. Still, the US won by 1 point.

Since then times have changed, Rudy Gobert is no longer the defensive big man he once was, but still an all time talent, which is why adding an offensive big man to the rotation could win France a medal. Finally, since 2021, there has been an increase of French players in the NBA, such as Kylian Hayes, Ousmane Dieng, and very soon the addition of Victor Wembanyama will change the narrative of France in the world of Basketball.

So what about Embiid? Since November, Joel is officially a Cameroonian, French and US citizen, having been granted the last two within 2022. Obtaining the American one is understandable, as the Sixer is currently living there and getting it out of the way might seem like the best decision , especially if he sees himself living there after retirement. Although Embiid can now officially play for the US national team, this is not what we will be focusing on, but the French one. Since becoming French, there have been talks of Embiid joining France on their team including Wembanyama and Gobert. This already dominant team in 2021 now has an additional 220 cm tall player in Wembanyama, a slightly shorter giant in Gobert, and want to add Embiid to the roster. If this team were to happen, they would beat everything in and out of their sight, even the US dream team would struggle against such a side.

Clearly, France is looking to make an impression and doing its best to bring talent to France as a whole for the Olympics. Since they are happening in Paris, the ideal team would be a winner's team with NBA star power such as Embiid. By having such players, they can attract more tourists, potentially American or Chinese ones who watch and follow the NBA.

Moreover, Embiid does actually speak French on top of having family living there, so communication between teammates wouldn’t be an issue. The doors to joining foreign national teams in order to win competitions on an international level will be open, and it will lead to either more competitive international games, or less competitive ones, as countries pay players to become a certain nationality just to win an international competition.