As Joel Embiid prepares to play in the Olympics for the first time in his career, the former NBA MVP has opened up about his decision to suit up for Team USA instead of France.

In an interview with David Marchese of the New York Times, Embiid called it a “tough” decision made even more difficult because France put a timetable on him to make it:

“Obviously, I got my home country, Cameroon, which I love, and the U.S., where I’ve been for 14 years now, and then France, where I have a lot of family,” Embiid said. “I kind of felt rushed in that decision. I wanted to take as much time as possible, and it didn’t help that France had put an ultimatum on when the decision had to be made.”

Embiid said he wasn’t aware there was a timeline, but he “saw it on Twitter” and was surprised because the U.S. was willing to give him as much time as necessary to make a decision.

The Philadelphia 76ers star did say his first choice would have been to play for his home country of Cameroon if they had qualified. He also explained that he had a discussion with French President Emmanuel Macron to relay concerns he had about the country’s relationship with Cameroon and other African countries.

“There’s a lot of things going on over there,” he said. “There’s a lot of pushback as far as basically kicking out the French because it’s been so many years of oppression. So that was my mind-set. I still got my family living in Cameroon, and I don’t want to put them through any of that stuff. I want them to be safe, and the relationship between France and Cameroon or Africa in general is just not good.”

Embiid described his conversation with Macron about that topic as “nice” and said they had a “great talk.” The seven-time All-Star was born in Cameroon and was granted French citizenship in May 2022, making him eligible to play for the country’s national team.

Four months after France made him a citizen, Embiid was sworn in as a U.S. citizen. He committed to play for the United States in the 2024 Olympics in October, citing his son being born in the U.S. and having lived in the country since he was 16 among his primary reasons for the decision.

In May, The Athletic’s Joe Vardon wrote a story about Embiid’s Olympics decision. It was noted within the story that Jean-Pierre Siutat, president of the French Basketball Federation, and general manager Boris Diaw felt Embiid misled them by claiming he was still going to play for France during the period when he was being sworn in as a U.S. citizen.

“We asked him then if he still was with us. He was like, ‘Yes, I still want to play for France,'” Diaw told The Athletic. “But then he didn’t commit.”

With the 2024 Olympics being held in Paris, Marchese asked Embiid about the reaction he expects to receive from the fans in attendance.

“I expect a lot of boos,” Embiid answered. “But I actually love it. It’s not going to be anything I haven’t seen.”

Embiid and the United States are favored to win gold at the 2024 Games. They will open group play on July 28 against South Sudan in Group C.

France is one of the teams expected to be a threat to the U.S. in the tournament. The host country is in Group B and won’t get a chance to face the Americans until the knockout stage if both teams advance.