Report: Joel Embiid initiates procedures to be able to play for France

Joel Embiid has an incredible basketball resume from his time in the NBA already, and he could be adding to it with international play next.

According to the French news outlet RMC Sports, Embiid has initiated administrative procedures to obtain French nationality to be able to play for the French national team.

The report added that “a stay in France would be planned by the end of June to finalize the file.”

If this process is completed for Embiid, he’d be able to play for France when they host the 2024 Olympics in Paris. FIBA allows there to be one naturalized player per team in international play and France currently doesn’t have one, which leaves a spot for Embiid, who has family in France.

France has already been a competitive international squad over the years, from the time of older legends of their team like Tony Parker to current NBA players such as Evan Fournier and Rudy Gobert. There’s also the 7-foot-3, 18-year-old phenom Victor Wembanyama, who’s gaining a ton of buzz as a rising prospect with remarkable skill and shooting ability at his size.

With Embiid, France would have an MVP-level talent and offensive anchor to take them to another level. Embiid and Gobert would be quite the formidable center rotation, too. Trying to score on one of those two for 48 minutes would give teams hell.

We’ll have to wait a while to see if this move goes ahead, but seeing Embiid go off at the 2024 Olympics could be something to look forward to.