According to Callie Lawson-Freeman of Yahoo! Sports on Thursday, Philadelphia 76ers power forward and center Joel Embiid will represent the United States at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. The fact that Embiid has chosen the United States is interesting because he is also a citizen of his native Cameroon (born on March 16, 1994 in Yaounde), and France. Embiid, who has played with the 76ers since 2014, and played his college basketball at the University of Kansas for two years before that, got his American citizenship in September of 2022.
At the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup in the Philippines this past September, the United States qualified for the Olympic Games by being the second best team from the Americas. However, it was a bitterly disappointing tournament as a whole for the United States because they failed to win a medal. In the bronze medal game, Canada beat the United States 127-118.
One reason why the United States could not reach the podium is because they lacked a big man presence who could play regularly in the paint. On several occasions, the United States were considered too small.
In 2022-23, Embiid led the NBA with 33.1 points per game. It was the second straight season he led the NBA in scoring as in 2021-22, he had 30.6 points per game. Embiid was also named the NBA MVP. In 66 games, he averaged a double-double as he 10.2 rebounds per game. Embiid also had 4.2 assists per game, 1.7 blocks per game, one steal per game, a field goal percentage of .548, three point percentage of .330, and free throw percentage of .857.
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