By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Born in Cameroon, and having already the French citizenship and plans to play for the French national team, Joel Embiid has also a third option and a decision to make about national teams.
Per the Associated Press, Embiid became also a US citizen two weeks ago.
“I’ve been here for a long time,” Embiid told The Associated Press on Thursday at training camp. “My son is American. I felt like, I’m living here and it was a blessing to be an American. So I said, why not?”
Per the same report, “Embiid defused speculation and said it was way too early to think about the Olympics or other international tournaments”.
According to the FIBA rules, Embiid, who hasn’t played for any national team yet not even at the junior level, can be used as a naturalized player either from France or USA. However, when he makes his choice and gets a FIBA license, he can’t change it.
In the past, when the rules about players’ citizenship were much more relaxed, Nigerian Hakeem Olajuwon who is also a US citizen, played for the USA as a member of the “Dream Team 2” in the FIBA World Cup of 1994.