Stephen Curry Sheds Light On Team USA's Joel Embiid Concern

Team USA have a good problem. With a frontcourt comprised of Joel Embiid, Anthony Davis, and Bam Adebayo – all incredibly talented big men – the American team bound for the 2024 Olympics will have to select which of the three should get the starting role in Paris.

Embiid has started in the first two exhibition games of Team USA versus Canada and Australia, but there appears to be a concern about finding the right balance between getting the Philadelphia 76ers star ample touches and making sure his presence on the floor doesn’t disrupt the preferred pace of his fellow starters.

Team USA guard and Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry tried to weigh in on the matter concerning Embiid’s impact on the squad.

Via Joe Vardon of The Athletic :

“Obviously, he demands a lot of attention, so you have to utilize that and get him in position,” Curry said of Embiid. “We still have to figure out our spacing around him to give him looks, whether he’s trying to score or whether he kicks it out. And then if he’s not in the post, we’re trying to figure out different looks and the chemistry of that group. So I think we got a little bit better today, and we got three more games to get even better with it and utilize the threat of everything he can do and everybody else out there on the floor.”

Still, Embiid made a good case for himself with a bounce-back performance in Team USA’s 98-92 exhibition win against Australia in Abu Dhabi.

After fouling out in only 12 minutes of action in the Americans’ 86-72 victory over Canada in Las Vegas last week, Embiid scored 10 points with five rebounds, an assist, and two steals in 16 minutes in the Australia game. He was also the only starter on Team USA with a positive plus/minus with a plus-2.

Curry, Embiid, and Team USA have three more exhibitions left to play before traveling to Paris, as they are set to square off against Serbia this Tuesday, still in Abu Dhabi. After that, they will meet South Sudan on July 20 and Germany on July 22 – both in London.

Related: Joel Embiid Delivers Six-Word Take on Celtics Dynasty Talk