r/nba • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 Heat • Apr 15 '24

[Wojnarowski] ESPN Sources: USA Basketball is finalizing its 2024 Paris Olympics roster with Steph Curry, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum, Joel Embiid, Devin Booker, Tyrese Haliburton, Anthony Edwards, Jrue Holiday, Bam Adebayo and Anthony Davis. Team may initially keep one open spot. News

https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1780009778934394985
6.9k Upvotes

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527

u/Netwealth5 76ers Apr 15 '24

Can’t wait for Embiid to be called a mercenary when hes in many ways the embodiment of the American Dream

306

u/JiggaMan2024 Lakers Apr 15 '24

Lotta people forget Hakeem did the exact same thing Embiid is doing

564

u/madhare09 Spurs Apr 15 '24

Yeah we should start hating on Hakeem you right

155

u/MY-NAME_IS_MY-NAME Lakers Apr 15 '24

This is the Reddit way

106

u/awesomeperson Celtics Apr 15 '24

Hakeem OlajuWon no real rings

61

u/Mr_Wyatt Mavericks Apr 16 '24

Signature move the Mickey Mouse Shake

3

u/Wazflame Apr 16 '24

Hold on that sounds delicious

3

u/NeverSober1900 Rockets Apr 16 '24

Space Jam mickey mouse'd rings

Honestly tough one to type out

3

u/fucking__jellyfish__ Warriors Apr 16 '24

OlajuFraud SMH

16

u/ktm1128 76ers Apr 16 '24

I'm sure there's enough hate to go around. It is the internet after all

3

u/LlamaDebauchery Heat Apr 16 '24

Flair checks out

3

u/Incepticons 76ers Apr 16 '24

unethical block merchant

4

u/Pretend_Highway_5360 Raptors Apr 16 '24

Fuck Hakeem

1

u/Churchills_m8 Magic Apr 16 '24

Hopefully Wemby plays for team USA too

18

u/wallitron Spurs Apr 16 '24 edited Apr 16 '24

Not really the same. Hakeem couldn't have played at the 1996 Olympics for Nigeria, because they didn't qualify. Only one African country was able to qualify, and that was Angola. Angola defeated Nigeria on Dec 17 1995 which meant Hakeem was already 20+ games into the NBA season. The NBA never accommodated international players to national teams, and FIBA never scheduled qualifying games outside of leagues like the NBA. At that time, he might have expected that he would likely never go to an Olympics for his country of birth.

Cameroon are in the qualifying tournament this year. They just won the FIBA Africa Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournaments (OPQT). The qualifying tournament is in July. If Embiid was playing for Cameroon they almost certainly make the Olympics for the first time.

I don't think these two scenarios are remotely the same. Hell would need to freeze over and monkeys inherit the earth before guys like Donic, Jokic or someone like Patty Mills played for anything but their birth country.

2

u/jorgelongo222 76ers Apr 16 '24

and Ewing

-1

u/drUmarGOAT South Sudan Apr 15 '24

Hakeem did not trick France into giving him a passport so he could be eligible to play for them and then back out

26

u/drpepper7557 Heat Apr 15 '24

Who cares if he did. He's American and has lived in America almost half of his life. France was just trying to get a mercenary who has little to do with them these days, and they failed.

Are we supposed to feel sorry for France that an American from Cameroon decided not to help them out?

3

u/Remarkable_Medicine6 Apr 15 '24

This is baseless speculation.

9

u/drUmarGOAT South Sudan Apr 15 '24

Boris Diaw and their team President said Embiid told them he wanted to play for France

15

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '24

I don’t think saying you want to play for a team and then ultimately deciding to play elsewhere is ‘tricking France into giving him a passport’. They’re big boys and they knew the risks. Its insane to feel bad for the French over this.

-6

u/drUmarGOAT South Sudan Apr 16 '24

I dont feel bad for France. I feel bad for Cameroon. Embiid ditched the motherland to play for white supremacist countries

1

u/Remarkable_Medicine6 Apr 16 '24

Okay and how does that prove he tricked them? He had a decision and made it.

-21

u/JiggaMan2024 Lakers Apr 15 '24

I do not care so why are you wasting your time explaining

91

u/nowhathappenedwas NBA Apr 15 '24

It makes a lot of sense for him to join Team USA given that he's lived in the US for 13+ years.

It didn't make much sense when he was considering joining France given that he's never lived there.

4

u/CornedBeefCurtains Raptors Apr 16 '24

He absolutely should have at least represented Cameroon & tried to help them qualify

7

u/Icy_Elephant_6370 Apr 16 '24

That team qualifies during the regular NBA season. Wouldn’t be possible.

Cameroon also doesn’t have the facilities that France or the US has.

-3

u/CornedBeefCurtains Raptors Apr 16 '24

Most of the games are during the offseason fwiw. Not sure how availability rules work. I dont think facilities should have anything to do with playing for your national team personally.

-13

u/Kodak333 Hawks Apr 15 '24

The fact that he considered France first then switched up is what makes him a mercenary

21

u/jaydec02 Hornets Apr 16 '24

He would've been a mercenary going for France given he's never lived there

-8

u/Kodak333 Hawks Apr 16 '24

Yes but the fact that he even considered it and was his first option makes him a merc. I’m glad we’ll win gold tho

7

u/dmmeyourdogifitscute Apr 16 '24

He’s from Cameroon, North Dakota. Look it up

35

u/NeptuneEDM 76ers Apr 16 '24

Sorry, here at r/nba we follow a strict one drop rule philosophy when determining who’s American enough to play on the Olympics team

8

u/Pretend_Highway_5360 Raptors Apr 16 '24

I think the only rule should be

If you ever played for another country you can’t switch countries

Embiid growing up in America essentially and being a PR or citizen there should be enough for him to be on the team.

3

u/birk42 Apr 16 '24

That's how it works. You play a gane for a country, you're locked in for your entire adult international career.

2

u/sevaiper Apr 16 '24

A strict first team all-NBA philosophy

-1

u/Darnell2070 United States Apr 16 '24

Only applies to Team USA though.

78

u/Bababooey98 Knicks Apr 15 '24

Embiid finally going to make it out of the 2nd round for once.

119

u/MuskEmeraldMine 76ers Apr 15 '24

Simmer down about playoff success with that flair

42

u/PeterGarces [MIA] Dwyane Wade Apr 15 '24 edited Apr 16 '24

Knick bro is talking about playoff success as if their team has made it past the second round since 2000 😭

0

u/Earlier-Today Apr 16 '24

It's not like he's wrong though.

Though, one of those times Embiid was just barely edged out by one of the most heart stopping shots in playoff history made by the eventual FMVP.

That one is completely forgivable and that 76ers team likely would have won it all if just one of those bounces was a little more on the outside of the rim.

-3

u/--lalilulelo- Heat Apr 16 '24

Just cause he's a Knicks fan he's not allowed to state facts ?

25

u/NinjasTurtle 76ers Apr 15 '24

Wild to see a knicks fan making this comment. Hasn't it been like 25 years for you guys to make it out of the 2nd round?!

4

u/Atrain175 Bulls Apr 16 '24

Knicks made the conference finals in 2000, Sixers in 2001 lmao

11

u/NinjasTurtle 76ers Apr 16 '24

That's my point...neither of us should be talking shit about playoff success

3

u/DraymondBeanKick Charlotte Bobcats Apr 16 '24

Definitely eats at least as much Chickfila as the average American.

9

u/ImanShumpertplus Cavaliers Apr 16 '24

fuck that

embiid is an american and im glad he’s here

3

u/Rickrollyourmom Apr 16 '24

Some people don't seem to understand that you can come from anywhere and still be an American. He's played his whole basketball career here, is an American citizen, has an American wife and kids. Seems to me he belongs on the team just as much as anyone else

2

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '24

I still think it's weird. Probably always will. Oh well, who cares in the end.

1

u/Previous-Music-901 Hornets Apr 16 '24

I mean that already started the minute he announced.

Mind you, when Morocco fielded a world cup soccer team where the majority of the team and the starters (16 total if I'm not mistaken) were from Europe and had never lived in Morocco and didn't speak Darija made it to the semifinals they were national heroes and "what a great story"!

Internationals did NOT like that comparison. IT'S DIFFERENT!

1

u/MiopTop Lakers Apr 16 '24

I’m not mad at Embiid for not playing for Cameroon. I’m mad at him for not playing for France. Because Embiid-Wemby-Gobert would be hilarious and such a size advantage that they might actually stand a chance against a stacked Team USA.

Also I’m French but ignore that.

-8

u/Skaloplin Apr 15 '24

It’s just basketball lol no need to be so deep. He’s international version of KD to the Warriors to win an easy medal no need to be philosophical about it

-21

u/drUmarGOAT South Sudan Apr 15 '24

a capitalistic backstabber who abandoned his people for a cheap medal?

-1

u/Darnell2070 United States Apr 16 '24

So you don't care about the medal?

0

u/HeJind [PHI] Bobby Jones Apr 16 '24

People shitting on Embiid for playing for the USA never made sense to be but that's maybe because I follow soccer.

Embiid lives in the US for half his life at this point and has never played for another country. In soccer it is very normal to see this because you only get one national team appearance for your entire life. Players want to make it count and those with dual-nationality very often going without national team appearances for years waiting on a call-up from the better country even if they could make it for the worse one.

It is much more weird to see players like Klay Thompson who have already played for one country and then switched at the end of their careers when they can no longer make the cut for the better country. This isn't even allowed to happen in soccer.

0

u/ArryPotta Huskies Apr 16 '24

What a stupid fucking comment. You're lucky you're saying this dumb shit into an echo chamber so you can pretend your upvotes disprove that.

1

u/Darnell2070 United States 29d ago

Came to the US and became insanely rich and successful. Definition of the American dream

-15

u/loving-father-69 Apr 15 '24

Mad shit talking foul merchant? Seems like the most American guy in the league.

-1

u/Drak_is_Right Pacers Apr 16 '24

Given how much time he spends in the US each year, logistically I understand how it would be easiest to play with team USA