The French national team can look forward to considerable reinforcement under the basket. Joel Embiid received French citizenship – and could now become a problem for the German national team
The 28-year-old centre of the Philadelphia 76ers was born in Cameroon and has been playing in the USA since the age of 16, where he has now developed into an absolute top star in the NBA. The five-time All-Star is a force to be reckoned with, especially offensively, scoring a league-best 30.6 points last NBA season, the first centre to do so since Moses Malone in 1982 and the first foreign player ever to do so. Embiid was also a hot candidate for the title of MVP, but in 2021 and 2022 he finished second behind Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets).
It was not clear for a long time who Embiid would play for at international level. In 2018, there were already reports that France were interested in naturalising the centre. Embiid himself stated at the time that his favourite was Cameroon, but that this was subject to conditions – for example, “the medical framework would have to be right there”. He never played for the West Africans, but a few months ago it was announced that he had applied for French citizenship. The competent authorities approved this, citing “exceptional interest for the country”. In other words: Embiid is to strengthen the Equipe Tricolore in international tournaments from now on.
Great quality for France
Without a doubt, Embiid increases the quality of the French squad, which is already exquisitely equipped with Rudy Gobert (Minnesota Timberwolves), Nicolas Batum (Los Angeles Clippers) or Evan Fournier (New York Knicks). It is not entirely clear whether Embiid will be able to play for the French at the upcoming European Championships (1 to 18 September).
According to the International Olympic Sports Confederation (IOC), the tournament could still come too early for Embiid, but that would not be bad news for Germany – after all, the DBB team will face France, Slovenia around Luka Doncic, Lithuania, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Hungary in the tough B  group.
If Embiid misses out on the European Championship, he should be able to play for France at the 2023 World Cup in the Philippines and especially at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
