‘The athlete is not as dominant as he used to be…’ Joel Embiid shares his views on LeBron James ahead of Paris Olympics 2024

Joel Embiid has spoken out about the chances of Team USA winning the gold medal in the Paris Olympics 2024. During a recent interview with the New York Times, Joel Embiid opened up about his personal life, the Philadelphia 76ers signing Paul Goerge and Team USA. 

As per Pink Villa, Joel Embiid said, “You look at the team that the U.S. has, but there’s also equal talent on other teams. Embiid continued, saying, “The talent that’s on the U.S. team, you also got to understand that most of those guys are also older. Like the Lebron now is not the Lebron that was a couple years ago so it’s a big difference.” 

He also had a word on LeBron James performance in recent years and how his performance has gone down as he is not dominating like he use to dominate like old days. Joel Embiid said, “Everybody else would tell and you can see for yourself, the athletic Lebron, the dominant that he was a couple of years ago is not the same that he is now.” “I think people get fooled by names on paper. Those names have been built throughout their career and now they’re older. They are not what they used to be.”

Marchese predicted that Embiid would respond in a cookie-cutter, 'U.S. will dominate' style. Embiid, however, maintained an even-handed and realistic tone in his speech. The seven-time All-Star also stated that the majority of the guys on the roster had never played together, and the aim is to learn from one another and win together.

LeBron James will turn 40 this year

There have been concerns about LBJ's ageing physique and his ability to continue playing as he did at his peak. King James will be 40 in December, yet judging his numbers, he is still playing at an extraordinary level for a player his age. 

This season LeBron James has played 71 games which is the most since playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers. He is averaging 25.7 points, 8.3 assists, 1.3 steals and 7.3 rebounds. He is still playing better if compared to other NBA players who played in the 40s like Carter, Garnett and Nowitzki. Meanwhile, Team USA has both types of players as the team as young and experienced players for the Paris Olympics 2024. 

Ahead of the Olympics, the USA won against Australia, Canada, Serbia and South Sudan in warm-up games. Team USA will be part of Group A and will face South Sudan on 31^st July in Lille.