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French Basketball Federation Takes a Dig at Joel Embiid After NBA Star Ditches France for Team USA
Jean Pierre Siutat showed his grievances against Joe Embiid and his decision to choose the USA over France when he promised the latter.
Jean Pierre Siutat, president of the Basketball Federation, spoke about the case of Joel Embiid who wanted to play for the Blues. The head of French basketball emphasized that Embiid wanted to even become a citizen of France and the paperwork was also settled. According to The Athletic, the head said, “He said, ‘Yes, I want to play, bring me the passport!’ With the help of the French Government, I did that job to arrange the papers for him and his son. All this time he said he wanted to play for the national team”
He also said that there were further discussions with the native Cameroonian. However, everything changed after a while. But what happened?
Why did Embiid change his decision?
A Twitter handle by the name of NBA Central also tweeted about this. They said, “ President of the French Basketball Federation, Jean Pierre Siutat, talks about Joel Embiid flip-flopping on his France commitment and joining the USA
“Team USA, with him, who can beat you? Come on, nobody. This is an easy way for him to get an Olympic medal.”😬”
Joel Embiid gave the president of the French Basketball Federation, a runaround and decided to not play for France. He is now playing for Team USA in the 2024 Summer Olympics. Situat denounced the decision of Pierre and said that he took the easy way around by joining the 4 time gold medal team, rather than joining the French National team. Embiid could have competed by staying in the team of France. 
His choice of the USA over France
Embiid came to the USA at the age of 16 and he has played for both France and USA. He was eligible for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris for either Team USA, Team France, or Team Cameroon.
Back in October 2023, the basketball player decided to join Team USA over Team France. The reigning NBA MVP is gearing up for the United States men's basketball team for the Olympic games in Paris. Hall of Famer Grant Hill, who is also the Managing Director of Team USA, said that there was a possibility that Philadelphia 76ers champ Joel Embiid would play for the Red, White, and Blue team.
Since he holds citizenship in both the USA and France the countries are interested in giving him his stature. They all want him because he is one of the best players in the league. He won the MVP last season with an average of 33.1 points,10.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.0 steals, and 1.7 blocks per game while also shooting five 4.8% from the field.
Choosing France would give him a chance to play for the host country this time but selecting the United States would also mean that he is in a team that achieved four straight gold medals in the Olympics. France lost to the USA with just 5 points in the 2020 game. Embiid’s decision was accordingly taken by him.
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