NBA star Joel Embiid could provide a “tremendous leap forward” for Cameroonian basketball if played for the country of his birth instead of France, according to Cameroon coach Alfred Aboya.
The Philadelphia 76ers centre is expected to be in the running to become the NBA’s Most Valuable Player once again this season, while his team are among the heavy favourites for the title.
Born in Yaounde, Cameroon, Embiid now also holds American and French citizenship and is reportedly considering pledging his international allegiance to the European side.
“A player of the calibre of Joel Embiid will change a lot for the Cameroon national team,” Aboya told BBC Sport Africa.
“Joel finished second in the MVP race in the NBA to Nikola Jokic. We know that the NBA is the best league in the world, so he’s the second-best player in the entire world.
“A player like that in the Cameroon national team is a big leap forward that will increase our chances to feature in competitions, whether it be World Cup qualifiers or African basketball.”
Embiid has finished behind Serbia’s Jokic as MVP in the past two seasons, having become the first non-American win the league’s scoring title in 2021-22.
The new campaign tipped off on Tuesday night, with Embiid scoring 26 points as the Sixers lost 126-117 at Boston Celtics.
Having gained French citizenship in July, the 29-year-old has a chance to join Les Bleus at the 2023 World Cup and Paris 2024 Olympics – but Aboya hopes to persuade him to represent Cameroon.
“We still have the chance since he hasn’t played for the French national team yet,” said Aboya.
“We’ll try everything we can to see if we can still retain him and have him play for Cameroon.
“I think our federation (Fecabasket) is trying everything it can to have players of the calibre of Joel, and all the stars we have in the NBA, join the national team.
“I think the staff of the federation has always tried, I think it is the duty of every federation to have the best players you can have on your team. Other countries are doing that. It’s only legitimate that Fecabasket does the same.”
Persuasion and insurance issues
Embiid signed for the Sixers in 2014 and was injured for his first two seasons, meaning he also missed the 2015 AfroBasket.
He could have featured in both the 2017 and 2021 tournaments but the vast cost of insurance meant he – along with two other Cameroon-born NBA stars, Pascal Siakam of Toronto Raptors and Houston Rockets’ Luc Mbah a Moute – was unable to play in the 2017 tournament, and Embiid had already shown a reluctance for selection.
Mbah a Moute, who retired in 2020 and was credited with helping discover both Embiid and Siakam, says it is up to Fecabasket to persuade Embiid to join the Cameroon set-up.
“I think the burden is on the federation to put something forward that’s meaningful and have a project to convince them to be on the team, which I don’t think they have had up until this point,” the 36-year-old told BBC Sport Africa.
“My hope is that at some point that does happen, and also that they [Embiid and Siakam] realise the power behind playing with the national team jersey, how big it is for the country.
“Based on where they are in their careers, hopefully they can have a chance to do it because it’s something very special.”
Aboya, conversely, does not believe insurance needs to be an obstacle and cites Gorgui Dieng of the San Antonio Spurs featuring for Senegal.
“If a player like Gorgui Dieng has been in his national team, in almost every competition – and he’s been in NBA for over 10 years – I don’t think insurance is an issue,” Aboya said.
“Also, there’s an African saying: ‘Whenever there’s a will, everything else will follow’. If you want to do something, even nature will align behind you.
“I think all those African players, big stars in the European leagues or NBA, if they want to play for the national team then I don’t think it’s the insurance that will stop them from doing that.”
Allowing young players ‘to dream’
Siakam remains an option for Cameroon but, with his stock rising, a call-up by Canada is also a possibility for the Douala-born power forward.
However, Aboya says Cameroon will battle to the last to beat the North Americans to the 28-year-old’s services.
“Fecabasket and its staff will not stop until that happens or until we have Pascal Siakam with a Cameroonian jersey on his back,” Aboya confirmed.
“We need those players. We need them to help increase Cameroon’s chances to play in major competitions, whether it be the Olympics, World Cup, or winning AfroBasket. Their help is needed for that to happen.
“I’ve just watched the best European Championship I have ever watched and it was great to see all those NBA stars play for their national teams. The level of competition was so high, and the spectacle they produced was so great, that I think we should do the same as Africans.
“We have big stars in the NBA and leagues in Europe. I think if those players decide to come back and play, it will just elevate the level of basketball in the continent.
“We have to also think about the young generation – maybe that can inspire a kid to want to become a Joel Embiid or Pascal Siakam. That’s a part of the sport that we can’t forget. We can’t forget it will allow the youth to dream.”
