France vs. USA for Joel Embiid
The countries clashed at the last FIBA World Cup as well as the last Olympics and are poised to compete to become the nation Philadelphia's superstar center represents internationally
Joel Embiid gained French citizenship in July. Embiid also recently revealed that he was sworn in as a United States citizen in September.
Fun conversation I've been having this week with various NBA executives as an entire league was simultaneously infected with Victor Wembanyama Fever:
Isn’t there a case to be made that Embiid would actually be a better fit with USA Basketball rather than size-rich France?
My official position, of course, is that neither the United States nor France — as elite basketball nations — should be pressing to add Embiid to their respective national teams. As I argued during the EuroBasket tournament with regard to American guard Lorenzo Brown suddenly becoming a Spaniard and playing such a pivotal role in short-handed España's unexpected surge to Euro supremacy: The view here is that the best of the best in international play are not supposed to look to fill roster needs with naturalized additions that make it feel as though we're watching FIBA free agency. The basketball romantic in me wishes that Embiid and Pascal Siakam would team up to see how far they can take Cameroon.
Yet we must concede, again, that it is permissible via FIBA rules for France or even the ever-stacked, all-12-players-from-the-NBA United States to have one naturalized player on the roster. It is simply one scribe's opinion that those teams belong on my totally made-up short list of countries that have accomplished too much in the sport to engage in that practice.
Rest assured that neither of those nations is listening to yours truly. League sources say that both …
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