Embiid's strange interview: I don't feel like an American; We have an old team, they are not the same players as they used to be

One of the biggest stars of the American Dream Team that will play at the Olympics in Paris - Joel Embiid (30), gave an interesting interview to the New York Times in which, among other things, he said that he does not feel like an American, but like a Cameroonian, that is, that it is the French's fault that he decided to play for the United States of America.

At the same time, he said that the US national team is not as powerful as it used to be and that names are one thing, but the floor is something completely different.

When asked what it means to him that he will be playing for America at the Olympics, he said:

"It means a lot to me. I spent half my life here. I have a family, a great wife, a son, so it all makes sense. Such an opportunity presented itself to me and I decided to accept it."

KBF Playoffs: Cliff Owuor confident of KPA’s comeback

However, that doesn't change one fact...

"No, I can't say I feel like an American. I'm Cameroonian and that's how I feel. It's always going to be like that. I was born there, I grew up there, I saw the struggle to survive. That's one of the reasons I made it in the end. I started playing basketball at 16. It's not easy to succeed nowadays when you start playing sports so late, especially because guys here in America start very early, as children. It was very difficult to cope, but I succeeded".

Many thought that he would play for France...

"It was a difficult decision. Obviously, I could have played for Cameroon, for my homeland, then France, where I have a lot of relatives, and for the USA, where I have been for 14 years. I felt that I was being rushed into the decision. And I didn't want to make a rash decision. Also, I don't like France's attitude towards African countries. It didn't help that the French gave me an ultimatum to decide. I heard about it through social media and I was surprised?!

"Then I talked to the people from the American basketball federation. They told me to take as much time as I needed. "We would like to have you, but it will not be a problem if you make a different decision," they said.

"One thing was clear from the start: if Cameroon qualifies for the Olympics, I'll play for Cameroon. Since that didn't happen, I chose the USA. It's much easier and nicer when no one pressures you."

It remains unclear how Embiid could have known Cameroon would not qualify, as he chose USA before the qualifying tournament in which his countrymen were eliminated. But that's less important now...

In the same interview, he said quite immodestly that he could have been basketball's G.O.A.T if only he had been a little more lucky.

"Yeah, I think I'd be in the competition if injuries hadn't slowed me down all these years. Every playoff, league part of the season, people fall on my knees or break my face. Always some weird injury and at the wrong time. If I'd been healthy during whole career, it would be a different story. I think I had the talent to enter the discussion of the best of all time. Of course, for that you need to win championships. You need good teammates."

Embiid's statement regarding the chances of the Americans at the Olympics in Paris was also interesting. For him, gold is not a given...

"We definitely have amazing talent, but there's equal talent on other teams. You also have to understand that most of the guys on our team have gotten older. LeBron today is not the same as LeBron was a few years ago. There's a huge difference. You can see for yourself that athletically he's not as dominant as he oncewas. Names on paper can be deceiving. They are all people who have done a lot in their careers, but now they are old and they are not what they used to be," underlined Joel Embiid.

It would be very interesting to hear what James, Curry, Durant will have to say about this...