Steve Kerr Says Team USA Will Continue to Start Joel Embiid Despite Struggles

Karl Rasmussen | Jul 17, 2024

Team USA center Joel Embiid during an exhibition game against Canada. / Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports

Team USA continued its preparations for the 2024 Olympics with an exhibition game against Serbia on Wednesday, which they handily won 105–79.

Coach Steve Kerr has made some tweaks to the rotation throughout the team's three exhibition games, though LeBron James, Steph Curry and Joel Embiid have been mainstays in the starting five.

Embiid hasn't been at his best during the run-up to the 2024 Paris Olympics, and his struggles continued on Wednesday when he shot 2 for 8 from the field and provided eight points, eight rebounds and three assists.

When asked if the trio of Embiid, James and Curry would remain in the starting lineup going forward, Kerr confirmed that they would.

Steve Kerr expects to continue playing LeBron, Steph, and Embiid as starters: "Yeah, I like those three guys in the starting lineup. We've been looking at other guys around them and we obviously do have great options, but I like those three guys together." pic.twitter.com/y0C6hJpW9U

— Fadeaway World (@FadeawayWorld) July 17, 2024

"Yeah, I like those three guys in the starting lineup. We've been looking at other guys around them and we obviously have a lot of great options, but I do like those three guys in the lineup," Kerr said.

One play from Embiid's performance on Wednesday stood out in particular. The Philadelphia 76ers star tried to draw some contact while going up for a lay up against Serbia, though he didn't do a great job at masking his intentions. Embiid jumped up and into Nikola Jokic while attempting to put a shot up and get to the foul line. The referee wasn't having it and didn't give Embiid the call, resulting in a turnover.

https://t.co/LXTPe05j24 pic.twitter.com/MkD0e9YjSr

— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) July 17, 2024

Despite a rocky start to his time with Team USA, Embiid still has the confidence of Kerr, who made clear there are no plans to remove him (nor James or Curry) from the starting lineup ahead of their first Olympic game on July 28, a rematch against Serbia.