Joel Embiid is excited to be playing alongside a generational talent such as Stephen Curry for Team USA.
Joel Embiid is surrounded by the world’s best NBA players on Team USA, his first international camp with the national team. The greatness of the players around him is sinking in, with Embiid using Stephen Curry as an example of a generational talent who has made the game much easier for him on the national team.
“When you play with some of the greatest players of all time, it’s fun. You gotta adjust, you gotta learn how to play. Everybody here has a high basketball IQ, so it’s easy. When you play with someone like Steph, all you gotta do is free him up and he’s either going to be wide-open or attack and make space for me and everybody else. The same thing with LeBron. It’s really fun, and myself too, I’m trying to make it easy for them.”
Embiid announced his intention to play for Team USA at the 2024 Olympics last October, with Fadeaway World getting Rudy Gobert’s live reaction to the news after he and other members of France tried recruiting Embiid to represent their country at Paris 2024.
Joel has had the luxury of playing alongside some of the best talents in the NBA, but nothing to the caliber of what he’s seeing around him at Team USA. The top names on the roster are NBA legends who will be remembered as among the greatest of all time, especially LeBron James and Stephen Curry, who are both considered to be top-10 all-time players.
Embiid averaged 34.7 points, 11.0 rebounds, and 5.6 assists last season, struggling to stay healthy and playing just 39 games on the year. He’s healthy for Team USA where he’s expected to be the team’s starting center ahead of options like Anthony Davis and Bam Adebayo.
Team USA Has A Colorful Group Of Characters
The 2024 Team USA team might not have a catchy nickname like the Dream Team or the Redeem Team, even though many have called this squad the ‘Avengers.’ This is among the greatest on-paper rosters Team USA has ever put together, with bonafide Hall of Famers in the mix along with future superstars who will be expected to carry the USA project by the time the 2028 Olympics rolls around.
Along with legends like Steph, LeBron, and Kevin Durant, the team has veteran superstars such as Anthony Davis and Kawhi Leonard, along with recent NBA Champions Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday. Funnily, the last time Holiday won a title was also in an Olympic year, with him playing a crucial role in helping the USA seal Gold.
Anthony Edwards is among the most fascinating characters in the NBA today. He has already made bold public statements such as declaring himself as Team USA’s no. 1 option while not even having locked down a starting spot. At the same time, he’s deferring to legends like Durant because of the respect he has for them.
Embiid is fulfilling a lifelong dream by representing Team USA at the biggest stage of international basketball; The Olympics. This team cannot afford to come home with anything less than a Gold medal, otherwise, it may be remembered as one of the biggest failures in Team USA’s history.