Team USA is reportedly recruiting former KU center Joel Embiid to play in ’24 Olympics

NBA superstars LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Anthony Davis are interested in playing for Team USA in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, ESPN.com reported Monday.

There’s a chance those players could be part of a star-studded squad that includes former University of Kansas center Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers.

Embiid, a 7-foot, 280-pound, 29-year-old native of Cameroon, was granted French citizenship in July 2022. He became a U.S. citizen in September 2022. He’s eligible to play for the U.S., France or Cameroon in the ‘24 Games.

The U.S. and France have qualified. Cameroon still has a shot at being included in the field after recently gaining a spot in the FIBA Olympic qualifying tournament by beating Senegal in the FIBA Olympic pre-qualifying tourney in Nigeria.

Embiid obviously would be a welcome addition to any of those three squads.

“Team USA has done some recruiting of Joel Embiid, who holds both United States and French citizenship, but the Philadelphia 76ers star has thus far been noncommittal,” Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com wrote Monday.

The main recruiter of 2023 NBA MVP Embiid will likely be Grant Hill, managing director of USA Basketball’s men’s national team.

“I’ve talked to him. He knows our desire to have him a part of our program. So we’ll see sort of where that goes.” Hill told NBA Radio in July.

SI.com’s Chris Mannix points out the USA’s need for Embiid, who averaged 33.1 points, 10.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.7 blocks for the Sixers in 2022-23. Team USA, led by U.S. men’s national team coach Steve Kerr, did not earn a medal at the just-completed FIBA World Cup.

“Embiid is the closest thing USA Basketball has to a cure-all,” Mannix wrote. “The reigning MVP doubles as one of the NBA’s best rim protectors. He can bang bodies with Jokić (Nicola, Serbia) and Valančiūnas (Jonas, Lithuania). Embiid can be a deterrent to Gilgeous-Alexander (Shai, Canada) and Schroder (Dennis, Germany). With Embiid roaming the paint, the U.S.’s impressive collection of wing defenders can play more freely.”

Embiid, Curry and James could lead a Dream Team that also might include three-time Olympic gold medalist Kevin Durant, as well as Jayson Tatum, Draymond Green, Devin Booker, Damian Lillard, De’Aaron Fox and Kyrie Irving.

“The fight for Embiid will be tough. The U.S. needs to win it,” Mannix wrote. He indicated France is selling a roster that could include Embiid, Rudy Gobert and Victor Wembanyama.

“As mediocre as Team USA has been in World Cups — the Americans have not won since 2014 — they are the reigning power at the Olympics, having won four straight golds. But even there the gap is closing. France beat the U.S. in pool play last cycle, snapping a 25-game winning streak, and narrowly lost a rematch for the gold medal. If the U.S. wants to remain atop the basketball world, it needs something. It needs Joel Embiid,” Mannix added.

The prospect of playing on the same team as James, who will be 39 during the 2024 Olympics, could sway Embiid to play for Team USA. Shams Charania of The Athletic says James is so serious about playing that he might commit to the team soon.

James last competed in the Olympics in 2012. He, Kobe Bryant, Durant and Carmelo Anthony won a gold medal in London. James also took gold in 2008 in Beijing and bronze in 2004 in Athens.

Curry and Embiid have yet to play in an Olympic Games.

“While initial interest seems to be there among the league’s biggest stars, a lot can change between now and next summer when a firm commitment will be needed. That’s especially true if any of their teams make a deep run in the playoffs, which typically results in guys backing out so they don’t overdo it,” wrote Jasmyn Wimbish of CBSsports.com.

“Still, though, if even half of the names (being mentioned) commit to next summer, Team USA will have significantly more talent than the group it sent to the World Cup. But if the U.S.’s fourth-place finish taught us anything it’s that this team is in desperate need of size to contend on the international level. In several of Team USA’s World Cup games they were getting dominated on the offensive glass, resulting in second-chance opportunities that played a huge role in their loss to Germany in the semifinals.”