Joel Embiid surprisingly mentions LeBron James’ age as a weakness for Team USA

As Team USA gears up for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, they are widely expected to win the gold medal due to their stacked roster. However, Joel Embiid has expressed doubts about their ability to secure the top spot, citing the age of some key players, including LeBron James.

In an interview with the New York Times, Embiid pointed out that while Team USA is loaded with talent, other teams have comparable skill levels and are younger: “You look at the talent that the U.S. has, but there are other teams with the same talent. And the talent that’s on the U.S. team, you also have to understand that most of those guys are older as well.”

He specifically addressed LeBron James, the NBA‘s all-time leading scorer: “LeBron now is not the LeBron of a couple of years ago. So it’s a big difference. The name may be there, but everybody would also tell you, and you can see it for yourself, that the athletic, dominant LeBron that he was a couple of years ago is not the same LeBron he is now.”

Embiid concluded: “People get fooled by the names on paper, but those names have been built throughout their careers and now they’re older, so they’re not what they used to be.”

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USA Team schedule for Paris 2024 Olympics

The USA Team is part of Group C for the Olympics along with Serbia, South Sudan and Puerto Rico. Here is the schedule of group stage matches:

Sunday, July 28
11:15 a.m. ET: Men’s Group C: Serbia vs. USA

Wednesday, July 31
3:00 p.m. ET: Group C: USA vs. South Sudan

Saturday, August 3
11:15 a.m. ET: Group C: Puerto Rico vs. USA