Sixers

Joel Embiid is Now an American Citizen

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Sep 30th, 2022 · 9:49 AM EDT

---

This happened a few weeks ago but just became public knowledge:

Joel Embiid becomes US citizen: 'Blessing to be an American' https://t.co/4q1bBLXHcA pic.twitter.com/I0Yvp3Ybe1

— New York Post (@nypost) September 30, 2022

“I’ve been here for a long time,” Embiid told The Associated Press at Sixers training camp this week. “My son is American. I felt like, I’m living here and it’s a blessing to be an American. So I said, why not?”

Hey good for Joel. He’s been living in the United States for a little more than a decade now and his son was born here, so citizenship always made sense. This makes him eligible to represent the United States in international competition, but that’s a decision that has not been made yet. He is, of course, able to represent his native Cameroon and has French nationality as well, so he’s got some options if he decides to jump into the FIBA and Olympic fray.

As a quick aside, I remember back in 2019 some lady asked Embiid in a scrum if he had a message ahead of Election Day. Embiid said, “I don’t know, I’m not an American.” That was the full answer.

But now he is an American, so lady can come back and try the question again.