Philadelphia 76ers star big man Joel Embiid has a decision to make regarding the Olympics. He has citizenship for both France and the United States, so he can decide which country to play for.
If Embiid joins France, that nation will have a fearsome trio of himself, Rudy Gobert and Victor Wembanyama. They would have to be considered the favorites in the games along with the United States. If he joins the Americans, they would be extremely tough to beat as well.
However, Embiid is not worried about that yet. The Sixers are 12-12, and he wants to make sure they get on track in their pursuit of a championship in the 2022-23 season.
Embiid chatted with Marc Stein and told him via his substack:
“I don’t want to talk about international stuff,” Embiid said.
I had a feeling going in, actually, that he would be reluctant to entertain the topic of which way are you leaning. But I did press him for one follow-up: Why is it an off-limits topic?
“Because it’s the NBA season,” Embiid said. “I’m focused on us getting better as a team and me getting better as a player. I’m focused on making it to the playoffs and doing something there. I’m gonna worry about the rest later.
“For now,” Embiid added, “it’s all about trying to do whatever is possible to win a championship.”
Embiid is certainly taking the right approach for this. While the Olympics is obviously an amazing honor and he will want to make his decision soon, the focus has to be on the Sixers at the moment and continue to push them forward and get on the right track.
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