Rudy Gobert would welcome Joel Embiid in the France team if "his heart is with us": “You are either all in, or you’re not, you can’t just show up”
Joel Embiid obtained his French citizenship this past July, and with that comes the decision of deciding which team to represent at the international level, be it during the Olympics or FIBA events.
Embiid holds Cameroonian, French and American citizenship and could technically represent any of these countries. Embiid's prospect of joining the French national men's basketball team might just put France a step ahead of the United States in the Olympics, which they have been dominating for several decades.
Should he decide to join the French national team, Embiid would be joining hands with Rudy Gobert, Evan Fournier, Vincent Fourier and Nicolas Batum to name a few, and with the twin-tower force of Gobert and Joel would provide relentless two-way dominance.
In an interview with The Athletic's Joe Vardon, however, Rudy Gobert made his feelings very clear about Embiid's impending decision:
“If Joel’s heart is with us and he wants to do it for the right reasons, it would be an amazing opportunity for our team. I want him to do it for the right reasons.
"As long as he understands that the French national team is different than the NBA. We have rules, we have things that we do. Sometimes we all have lunch and dinner together — it’s not everybody doing their own thing."
Rudy Gobert says no national team can stop potential French trio of Joel Embiid, Victor Wembanyama and himself: ahnfiredigital.com/nba/rudy-gober…
He added:
“But I think the main thing for us, for him and for me is that I want to make sure that he does it from his heart. It has to come from him. You are either all in, or you’re not. You can’t just show up.”
The French national team finished second among 12 teams at the 2020 Olympic Games, taking home the silver medal. They finished second again at EuroBasket 2022 as Spain took home the gold medal.
Joel Embiid is logging another MVP season as 76ers struggle
While the Philadelphia 76ers stand seventh in the Eastern Conference with a 12-12 record, Joel Embiid is putting up career-high numbers for the second year in a row.
Embiid averaged 30.6 points last season, a career-high and season-high. He's on pace to break that record this season, and is averaging 31.9 points, 9.6 rebounds and 4.9 assists.
Through the first quarter of the season, Embiid has already logged two 40-plus games and a career-high 59-point, 11-rebound behemoth double-double against the Utah Jazz. He also had seven blocks in the game, which is tied for his career-high.
Here's an extraordinary stat from Embiid's season so far: Of the 16 games he has played in, he has scored more than 30 points on 10 occasions and has more double-digit rebounding games than not.
Joel Embiid's dominance hasn't necessarily taken center stage because of the 76ers' lackluster season, partially due to James Harden's month-long absence, Tyrese Maxey and Georges Niang's injuries. The 76ers are also fairly thin on the bench, but have a fairly compact starting lineup, especially with the addition of P.J. Tucker.