NBA superstar Joel Embiid was one of the featured members of Team USA’s roster this year, but he nearly played for two other countries before donning the Red, White, and Blue. Despite leaving France in the dust, former French national team head coach Vincent Collet says his team was better off without the former MVP big man on their squad.
“I was happy Embiid didn’t come last year,” Collet told BasketNews at the B8 Summit in Vilnius last week. “I think we don’t need that.”
As a native of Cameroon, Embiid acquired his French citizenship in 2022, with plans to represent Team France at the Paris Olympic Games. His citizenship was earned through a special clause for foreigners of exceptional interest, but Collet says it was a mistake to pursue him in the first place.
“I can understand why teams are doing it, but for me, it’s not fair,” Collet continued. “Most often, it’s point guards, because it’s a weakness of European countries.”
As one of the best bigs in the game at the time, France thought that Embiid would enhance their team and drastically increase their chance of winning the tournament. But before we could find out how it might have worked, Embiid changed course and joined Team USA instead, where he averaged 11.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in about 17 minutes per game.
“I couldn’t really do that because it was coming from even higher—like the Minister,” Collet explained on opposing France’s pursuit of naturalizing Embiid. “It was something big. The Olympic Games were in France, and they thought it was, for us, insurance to be better. But for me, it wasn’t that clear.”
Embiid’s decision sparked major controversy among the basketball community, but Team France did well enough without him, thanks to guys like Victor Wembanyama, Rudy Gobert, Nic Batum, and Evan Fournier.
“We already had very good big men. We already had challenges making them play together, so it would be the same,” said Collet. “I knew Victor [Wembanyama] would be coming. We had Gobert, Poirier, and Mustafa Fall before. It would have changed the team completely.” For sure, he’s a fantastic player, but from a team spirit perspective… even if he speaks French and has French ties, I think it’s not very good for our basketball,” Collet said.
In the end, Collet just didn’t feel that Embiid was the right fit, and it’s for reasons that go beyond the game of basketball. While he may have some French ties legally, he clearly considers himself more American, and there’s no denying that now.
“It was very special because I think it came from Embiid at the beginning. He was the first one to ask if he could get naturalized because he wanted to play in the Olympic Games. He thought he couldn’t play with Cameroon, and that’s why he asked. Sure, if he had been naturalized, he would’ve been part of the team—no question.”
Embiid did ultimately help lead Team USA to gold last summer, but his relationship with France will never be the same again. The way he turned on them after seeking his citizenship was the ultimate betrayal and not something that gets taken lightly.
In the eyes of Vincent Collet, basketball isn’t just about assembling the best talent—it’s about building a team that reflects shared values, culture, and identity. Joel Embiid may have helped the U.S. secure another gold, but for Collet and many in France, his absence wasn’t a loss—it was a reaffirmation of what the national team stands for. As debates around naturalized players continue to swirl in international basketball, Embiid’s Olympic journey may come to symbolize the widening gap between winning at all costs and preserving the soul of the game.
