Ben Simmons knows fans in Australia have been critical of him not suiting up for the national team. But Simmons also knows those fans know they need him, if the team is to medal in international competition.

"People are like, ‘Well you’re not Australian if you don’t want to play’, and all this stuff that comes with it. And I just laugh. I’m like, Alright. And I want my team to succeed all the time. So it’s just interesting seeing that go on and then when we get knocked out, people are like, ‘Okay, we do need him’," Simmons said. "I’m like, Yeah, it would be nice to have me there because I’m one of the best players that’s come out of the country. So I love that respect, but at the same time it’s [about the] Olympics for me. That’s what I think about. Let’s get through the season healthy and play in the Olympics. That’s just going to be insane for me. I’m going for a medal, but just having that experience and to be able to represent my country, there’s probably nothing better than that.”

Simmons also expressed that he doesn't just want to return to his former All-Star form. Now that he's healthy, he has bigger goals in mind.

"I want to be better than an All Star. That’s where I want to be," Simmons said. "I never try to live with myself. I’m never like, Well, hopefully, maybe I get a couple votes in an All-Star game. Nah, if that’s the case, I might as well be fishing.”

Team USA is aggressively pursuing Boston Celtics guard Jrue Holiday to play in the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Holiday was part of the United States team that won the gold medal at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo.

In six games at the Tokyo Olympics, Holiday averaged 11.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.7 steals in 26 minutes per game. Following those Olympics, USA Basketball officials described Holiday as "beloved" by the program.

Several NBA superstars have expressed an interest in playing in the Paris Olympics next summer. Joel Embiid recently committed to Team USA over Cameroon and France for the 2024 Olympics.

Philadelphia 76ers Joel Embiid has committed to play for the United States at the 2024 Olympics. Embiid chose Team USA over France and his native Cameroon.

Despite being one of the top players in the NBA for the last several seasons, Embiid has yet to represent a country on the national team level. He was rumored to have a deadline of mid-October from France to make a decision about next summer's Olympics in Paris.

Several players, including Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Paul George, and Kawhi Leonard, expressed interest in representing Team USA at next summer's Paris Olympics during media day.

Bam Adebayo, DeMar DeRozan, Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, Jaylen Brown, Donovan Mitchell, Khris Middleton, Julius Randle, Zach LaVine, Aaron Gordon, Fred VanVleet, and Brook Lopez also indicated their availability for Team USA.

Joel Embiid said that he was going to make a decision on what country he was going to represent in the next few days.

"My goal is to play in the Olympics. I love all three options. Cameroon, I'm born there, I'm from there and I always want to represent my country. But the goal is also to play in the Olympics. If we had a chance, or if we would qualify for the Olympics, that will be an easy decision. But that's still up in the air," said Embiid.

Team USA finished fourth at this summer's World Cup.