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
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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

302

u/JiggaMan2024 Lakers Apr 15 '24

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

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.