These personalities who annoyed us in 2023: the Embiid weathervane

During the end-of-year holidays, the sports editorial team of Le Figaro brings you a series on the personalities who have annoyed in 2023. For various and varied reasons. Today, Joel Embiid.

Will come, won't come? Since 2016, Joël Embiid has flirted with France and the Blues. The Cameroonian pivot publicly spoke of his appetite for the France team in 2018 and the “possibility” of wearing the rooster jersey. “It’s a signal that deserves to be explored,” Patrick Beesley said at the time. And the French Basketball Federation (FFBB) did more than dig, working hard to get him French nationality. However, Embiid has no direct link with France, other than being fluent in the language of Molière, a few members of his family who live there and... a taste for OL, the Tour de France and gastronomy. A bit light? Not when we're talking about one of the best players on the basketball planet. It helps...

When the MVP of the 2022-23 vintage season obtains his passport, in 2022, it is above all with a view to his integration into the French team and what he could bring to the country through this. Injured and not yet selectable, he was however not available for the Euro. “He would have liked to play this summer,” said Boris Diaw. Not so fast: a few weeks later, we learned that Joël Embiid had obtained American citizenship. And of course Team USA was flirting with him shamelessly. We know that the US selection is not lacking in talent, but if there is one position where it is less strong than others, it is that of pivot. With the native of Yaoundé, Steve Kerr would no longer have any problems or holes. If we consider that Jaren Jackson Jr (Memphis), Bam Adebayo (Miami) or DeAndre Ayton (Portland) are weak points! Anthony Davis (L.A. Lakers) and Draymond Green (Golden State) can also play at position 5, without forgetting the one announced as the rival of “Wemby”, Chet Holmgren (OKC).

Also read: These personalities who annoyed us in 2023: Fabien Galthié, yes-yes denial

Still, Embiid was still hoped for the 2023 World Cup. Still missed. The person concerned had canceled his marriage last summer. However, there was still optimism at that time. After the Jakarta fiasco, the “fed”, tired of waiting, set a deadline for the Cameroonian. And the answer came: he chose the United States, where he arrived at 16, where his son was born. And also, but he didn't say that, where he will have the best chance of winning the gold medal next summer, at the Paris Olympic Games.

Also read “A file that should never have been initiated”: the Embiid case leaves a bitter taste at the FFBB

What a waste of time... In recent years, French leaders have taken the risk of offending French executives, notably Rudy Gobert, who plays the same position, for nothing. Not to mention the time spent helping him obtain French citizenship. A snub? Yes, it must be said. Embiid took the French leaders for pigeons. It is also and above all the sign of a character who had no empathy for France and whose non-appearance we can therefore rejoice in. Obviously, we will have to deal with it in the opposite camp in the event of a Franco-American duel. We hope that you will shower him with whistles if you intend to be one of the lucky ones who will attend the matches in Lille and/or Paris next summer...

Did Embiid fool the Blues? “No,” assures Diaw, general manager of the French men’s team, like Céline Dumerc for the ladies, assuring “to respect” this choice but recalling that the 76ers player “kept telling us that he wanted to play for us… until now”.

Underlining “the ton of work” that this issue has caused for the FFBB teams, President Siutat has even more difficulty hiding his bitterness. “It’s clear that his passport was linked to the national team. I think he committed to wearing the jersey, I don't know in what terms. Hence the great disappointment in terms of the energy spent,” breathes Jean-Pierre Siutat. And the president of the French federation added: “We never went looking for him. He considered playing for the French team. At his request, steps were taken to give him nationality. We have never been a asker. Behind, I am disappointed that we spent so much time and put so much energy on a file that should never have been initiated. For me, it’s a subject that’s behind us, we’re moving on,” he says about the defection of a player who averaged 33.1 points and 10.2 rebounds last season.

A big name who could have taken the French team to another dimension and formed an XXL racket with Rudy Gobert and Victor Wembanyama, at least for one summer since there was never any question of a commitment on the duration. Joël Embiid has always suggested that there are only the Olympics to make him dream, not the Euro and even less the World Cup. The double penalty therefore means that Team USA will be more unplayable than ever, if LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry are in the game. “The Americans will be the favorites, but they would have been without him,” recalls coach Collet. With Embiid in addition…” Thank you for everything Mr. Embiid, then. A priori, the person concerned does not plan to return the French passport that he pilfered while selling dreams to the FFBB. Damage.