Grant Hill gushes over rare talent that Joel Embiid brings to Team USA

Right now, Joel Embiid is focused on leading the Philadelphia 76ers past the Miami Heat in the play-in game. But even once the Sixers season wraps up, Embiid will still be balling out in red, white and blue. The superstar center will make his debut for Team USA as the squad looks to dominate in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Embiid was one of the many huge splashes that the USA Basketball program made for its men’s squad, adding him to a star-studded roster that will look to win the gold medal after finishing in fourth place in the 2023 FIBA World Cup. He chose to represent the United States over Cameroon, his native country, and France, where he holds citizenship, as he prepares to add to an impressive basketball resumé.

In a Zoom press conference, managing director Grant Hill said that he first discussed a spot on Team USA with Embiid four days before the 2022-23 season. After Embiid gained American citizenship in September of 2022, Hill said that he reached out to Sixers general manager Elton Brand to set up a meeting with Embiid at his house. He hoped to recruit Embiid for the World Cup but instead got his big man for the bigger stage.

“I thought he was just incredible to work with. He was never committed either way. He was very thoughtful and we’re just ecstatic that he’s with us. We look forward to having someone like him,” Hill said. “We haven’t had a center, a big guy like that in quite some time — and it might be ’96 when I played when we had three of ’em. We had Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson and Shaquille O’Neal.”

Hill said that he and Embiid had “really a great meeting” in which he mentioned the recently released Netflix documentary about the “Redeem Team,” the 2008 squad that avenged the USA’s loss at the prior Olympics. He and the 76ers superstars kept in contact after that initial discussion.

“He was non-committal but certainly very interested, asked great questions, was very thoughtful,” Hill said. “Came away really impressed with his intelligence and a lot of substance to him. It felt good but he never disclosed his hand. He was just thoughtful and deliberate in terms of thinking this through.”

After getting wind that France was hoping to land Embiid, Hill traveled to the Sixers’ training camp for the 2023-24 season in Fort Collins, Colorado to talk with the big man. Hill said that the conversation in early October of 2023 was not just about Team USA but also about the two getting to know each other better.

“The next day, he called me that morning, which happened to be my birthday,” Hill recalled. “He knew it was my birthday and he said, ‘Happy birthday, I’m playing. I’m with you guys.’ And so I told him it was — with all due respect to my wife — it was the best birthday present I’ve had maybe in the last couple of decades.”

Joel Embiid highlights Team USA roster for 2024 Paris Olympics