Joel Embiid commits to play for Team USA at 2024 Summer Olympics
The United States men's national basketball is getting a major boost for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Joel Embiid has decided to play for Team USA in Paris next summer, committing to play for the USA over France and Cameroon, confirming multiple reports.
The Philadelphia 76ers star let the federation and managing director Grant Hill know of his decision on Thursday, according to multiple reports.
Embiid became a U.S. citizen last year and could have also chosen to play for France — or even Cameroon, his homeland, if it qualified for the Paris Games.
"My son is American, and you add that to the fact that I’ve been here for such a long time, I feel like for the past few years this has been more every decision has been based off of family," Embiid told reporters of his decision on Thursday.
He detailed that his decision would be made in the coming days when he spoke about the issue at media day on Monday.
"My goal is to play in the Olympics," Embiid told reporters. "I love all three options. Cameroon — I [was] born there. I'm from there, and I always want to represent my country. … If we had a chance or if we were qualified for the Olympics, that would be an easy decision, but that's still up in the air. … And then the USA, obviously they've been struggling the last couple of years, trying to get back on the top. And you've also got France, who's up and coming.
"I'm just thankful that I'm able to be in that situation. It is a tough choice, but I'm probably going to make that decision in the next few days."
Team USA will try for a fifth consecutive gold medal at Paris next summer. However, the federation has had some struggles in its last few major international tournaments. It finished in seventh place at the 2019 FIBA World Cup and came in fourth place in the FIBA World Cup this summer. While it won the gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics, the USA lost a game in group play to France before narrowly defeating it in the gold medal game.
Embiid's decision to join Team USA is due to that as he wants to help it return to dominance at the international stage, according to ESPN.
A big reason for the United States' lack of relative dominance in recent tournaments has been its void of having a star big. While other nations have had Nikola Jokic, Domantas Sabonis and Rudy Gobert (among others) as their big men, the USA hasn't been able to throw out as many star bigs. Jaren Jackson Jr., Bobby Portis and Walker Kessler were its three big men at the FIBA World Cup this summer.
Embiid will certainly help fill that weakness. The 2022-23 NBA MVP has been among the league leaders in scoring and rebounding over the last six seasons, earning an All-Star nod each year.
Embiid joins a list of growing stars who have either committed or have shown a desire to play in the Summer Olympics in 2024. LeBron James, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant were just three of the many star players who said they'd like to join Team USA in Paris on Monday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
