RMC SPORT INFO – Cameroonian interior Joel Embiid, top scorer in the NBA regular season with Philadelphia, and candidate for the title of MVP, has initiated administrative procedures to obtain French nationality and be able to play with the French basketball team. .
The shadow of Joel Embiid hovers again over the France team. Four years after a controversy caused by a declaration by the Cameroonian pivot about his interest in the Blues, it seems that the NBA superstar has never been so close to wearing the tricolor jersey.
At 28, the very talented player of the Philadelphia 76ers, candidate for the title of MVP this season, has even initiated administrative procedures in France, according to our information. A stay in France would be planned by the end of June to finalize the file.
Only one naturalized player allowed
In basketball, FIBA regulations allow only one naturalized player per national team. If Embiid, who has family in France, obtains his naturalization, he will therefore be able to play with Nicolas Batum, Rudy Gobert and Evan Fournier, even if the latter, like Tony Parker, had opposed this type of selection four years ago.
At the time general manager of the French Basketball Federation, Patrick Beesley had told him that the arrival of the native of Yaoundé in the France team was possible. There had already been contacts, two years earlier.
Strongly courted by Cameroon, whose jersey he has never worn in official competition, the top scorer of the 2021-2022 NBA regular season, who seems at the top of his game, would be a reinforcement of choice for Vincent Collet. In the racket, he could form a 5-star pair with Rudy Gobert at Paris 2024.
