After a bona fide scare laid out by the Serbians, Team USA turned in a massive comeback to book themselves a spot in the Olympic Finals. Philadelphia 76ers superstar center Joel Embiid easily had his best game in Paris, scoring 19 points to help lead the Americans to a victory.
Serbia, led by Nikola Jokic and Bogdan Bogdanovic, seemed poised for a historic upset before Embiid and Steph Curry led USA in the final frame of what will go down as one of the best basketball games ever played in the Summer Games. Overshadowed in all the commotion, however, is Embiid making a huge announcement about his future with the national team.
76ers star Joel Embiid hints at huge change in Paris
In a recent exchange with San Francisco Chronicle’s Ron Kroichick, Embiid looked back on his first-ever Olympics stint. While he acknowledged the unique experience of playing for Team USA, he opened up a window about potentially changing sides on the next iteration of the Games.
It's been a good experience. It’s been a grind, being away from home and family for a few weeks. But the group of guys we have made it easy. Paris is a great city and the next one is LA. It might not be with Team USA, it might be with Cameroon.
Embiid admitted that playing for USA made everything a more seamless transition for him, especially considering the surplus of talent in the roster. He has been garnering a ton of flak from France, and now he seems ready to make another sidestep to hometown Cameroon.
Cameroon, ranked a modest 68th in the FIBA rankings, would massively benefit from having Embiid in the lead-up to the 2028 OLympics and in the actual games. The 76ers alpha (alongside fellow NBA star Pascal Siakam) can easily lead the nation to atop the African pool and qualify for Los Angeles.
For now, though, Joel Embiid and Team USA can now look forward to another much-anticipated Finals matchup against home team France led by Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert. Even better, he will have a big chance at shutting the not-so-hospitable Parisians down once and for all.