By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Joel Embiid decided to join Team USA for the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics. He could have played for France or his native Cameroon, but went for the option that gives him the greatest chance to win the gold medal.
Long-time French international, Nicolas Batum, talked about Embiid’s decision and touched on the USA possibly having the best team ever for the upcoming Olympic tournament.
“I would have made the same choice. When you see all the guys who committed, like, they claim it’s the missing big man, but if you want the perfect lineup, they needed one of the best, if not the best, big men. So, when I saw that, I was like, oh, that’s fair. I wasn’t surprised. I’m not really mad about it because if I think as a basketball fan, it can be really, really something amazing like we’ve never seen before. Maybe ’92 or ’08, but you don’t see stuff like that very often. As a basketball fan, it’s crazy,” Batum said for Sports Illustrated.
France, as the host of the upcoming Olympics, might meet Embiid and a stacked USA side.
“As an opponent, it’s like, you didn’t need that much. You already have plenty, so you need to bring in Embiid? But hey, good for them. It’s going to be an interesting tournament anyway, so we’ll see.“