By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers is ready to reinforce the USA Basketball program for the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics.
Ramona Shelburne of ESPN already confirmed that the dominant center already had a meeting with USA executive director Grant Hill and is ready to reclaim their lost glory in the sport of basketball.
The series of events quickly came after the USA national hoops squad failed to win a medal during the 2023 FIBA World Cup held in the Philippines.
After the disappointing outing, several NBA superstars already confirmed their early commitment to become a part of the national squad that will represent the US in the Olympics next year.
Embiid had a complicated situation before committing. He was born in Cameroon and also had dual citizenship in France and the US, leaving him with three eligible options.
Several months ago, reports already surfaced that Embiid might be playing for France and join Rudy Gobert, Nando de Colo, and the rest of the French squad.
However, Embiid just shut all rumors after breaking his silence yesterday, stating that this decision is dedicated to his son who was born in the US.
“You add that with the fact that my son is American, I’ve been here for such a long time, I feel that for the past few years, this has been bought every decision has been made just based just family,” Embiid said.
He also said that he wants to play with his brothers in the NBA and having the chance to redeem USA Basketball is nothing but an honor.
As of this writing, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and LeBron James already confirmed their desire to play for the US.
Other names that were also inserted into the picture were De’Aaron Fox, Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard, Bam Adebayo, and Anthony Davis.
