Joel Embiid fouls out in rusty Team USA debut vs. Canada in showcase game

Joel Embiid and Team USA played their first showcase game against Canada tonight in Las Vegas and lets just say it really didn’t go as planned for one of the NBA’s best.

Look, in Embiid’s first Team USA appearance while starting next to Steph Curry, Devin Booker, Jrue Holiday, and LeBron James, it was almost a lock that he would experience some growing pains given the fact that he’d be operating in a post-centric play-style, so no surprise to see that that was very much the case tonight.

Embiid fouled out a few minutes into the third quarter (players foul out with four personals) and finished the night with an underwhelming 5 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists (three turnovers), on 2-5 shooting from the field.

In-depth look at Joel Embiid’s performance

With Dwight Powell as Canada’s starting center, Embiid was sure to have a favorable matchup in isolation, when given the opportunity. Things obviously didn’t go as anticipated. Embiid was definitely “rusty” and misfired on most of his one-on-one attempts against Powell – shots that we all know he usually drills on a nightly basis.

Dwight Powell is CLAMPING Joel Embiid 😤 pic.twitter.com/yyPDjkIbOV

— MFFL NATION (@NationMffl) July 11, 2024

Considering Joel Embiid hasn’t played high-level basketball since April, showing some rust was inevitable and really, not concerning at all

I do have to point out one element of Embiid’s game that was disappointing. He was brutal as a facilitator and passer last night. Canada threw a good amount of double teams at Embiid and he was unable to instinctively kick out, leading to multple (3) turnovers.

Embiid did show flashes of sound passing, drawing defenders in transition to create a three for Devin Booker and finding Steph Curry curling off a pin-down screen to knock down a triple.

Obviously, Embiid will need to do things on a more consistent basis while playing alongside such unworldly talent on Team USA and I have zero doubt that he’ll do just that.

Embiid wants to win and has the perfect opportunity on a World Stage to take home a gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. I guarantee we’ll see him adapt a more pass-first mindset as he continues to get additional run during the showcase games.

Team USA will continue the Showcase Series ahead of the Olympics on Monday, July 15th against Australia. From there, they’ll play Serbia on July 17, South Sudan on July 20, and Germany on July 22nd ahead of the Olympic Games. 

Mandatory Credit: Copyright 2024 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)