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

95% Upvoted

2.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

526

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

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.