After their discouraging finish to the FIBA world basketball tournament this past summer, the US men’s national basketball team received some reinforcements in a big way as Philadelphia 76ers superstar and reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid announced he would join the team for the 2024 Olympic Games.
On Monday, at the Sixers media day, the Cameroon native stated when I asked that he would be deciding between the US, France, or Cameroon by the end of the week. Embiid referred to the idea of joining Cameroon as an easy decision that was in the context of whether the team had secured a spot in the Olympic Games, which, at this point, has yet to happen.
The French men’s national basketball team, meanwhile, gave Embiid an ultimatum in the form of a deadline, Oct. 10, when they would no longer be extending an invitation to the National Basketball Association’s most valuable player. It was a bold strategy, one that did not land one of the top “free agents” in Olympic history, which is quite a rare occurrence to begin with.
Now, with one of the NBA’s consensus top players in tow, the US men’s team will look to continue to round out their roster in hopes of securing gold for the 17th time in what will be the 21st Olympic games with basketball played.
