The 2024 Olympics in Paris, France, is expected to be quite the spectacle when it comes to basketball, with the world’s best planning on competing for gold after the results of the FIBA World Cup sent shockwaves throughout the basketball community.
Despite being the favorites to come out on top in the tournament, Team USA finished fourth behind Germany, Serbia, and Canada, which obviously didn’t sit well with Americans, as it seemed as though the rest of the world had caught up to the United States once again.
Immediately after the tournament ended, some of the best and the brightest that the NBA has to offer started saying they’d commit to Team USA for the Olympics next summer.
Along with fellow superstars Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers also expressed his interest in playing for the United States over France and Cameroon, which was a surprising move, to say the least.
This decision has created quite a backlash from France, with Jean-Pierre Siutat, President of the French Federation, claiming they helped him get his citizenship in the country, and they now view that as a waste of time and energy via NBA Central.
“He had shown interest in playing for France, and we helped him get French citizenship upon his request… I’m just sorry that we have spent so much time and energy on a file that should never have been opened.” 😳
– President of the French federation Jean-Pierre Siutat on Joel… pic.twitter.com/sQAtdTzaG5
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) October 15, 2023
It’s hard to blame Siutat for being upset at Embiid after jumping through hoops to get him citizenship, only for him to become an opponent while France hosts the Olympics.
This will likely get a bit uglier before it gets better, as Embiid is bound to respond and probably won’t do so nicely, which will likely create a bit of a rivalry ahead of the Olympics.
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