With or without Joel Embiid? It will be without for the 2023 World Cup (August 25-September 10), in Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines. With a French passport, another from the United States, the Cameroonian pivot of the Philadelphia 76ers is not part of the list of 12 players unveiled Wednesday by Vincent Collet. Anything but a surprise. “I think I can tell you that it seems difficult that he can play with us this summer. However, that does not call into question the fact that he can play with us next year. He is going to get married this summer and it falls in the wrong period, during the preparation of all the teams. It makes his presence difficult, whatever team he might choose, ”said the coach of the France team, at the end of April, after the draw for the World Cup. And to add: “A cross for 2024? No. We listen to it. From what he recently confided to Boris, he is still hesitant in his thinking.
Boris is Boris Diaw. The former captain of the Blues now officiates as general manager of the French men’s team. He is notably in charge of relations with NBA players. It is therefore logically he who took stock of this file on Wednesday. “I am in contact with him and his representatives. There’s nothing new. At present, he still doesn’t know if he wants to play for a national team, and if so, with which one. He has Cameroonian, French and American passports. He still hasn’t chosen who he was going to play for”, underlines “Babac”, acknowledging that if the outgoing MVP in the NBA took steps to obtain French nationality several years ago, “it was to play as a team. of France. But it was also perhaps to give oneself the possibility of choosing. As the procedures are long, it started long before. Today, he has the opportunity to choose. Embiid, 29, is coming off a season with 33.1 points and 10.2 rebounds. He would obviously represent an asset of choice for the French team with a view to winning gold in Paris 2024.
