Joel Embiid's decision to join Team USA came as something of a surprise when the roster was put together. The Philadelphia 76ers MVP grew up in Cameroon and became a French citizen in 2022; additionally, he spoke publicly about playing for France to a French newspaper in 2018. Consequentially most assumed he'd prioritize suiting up for either Cameroon or France over America for the Olympics.
Those assumptions, of course, were incorrect. Embiid is now featured on Team USA as part of a deadly center rotation with Anthony Davis and Bam Adebayo. However, with the Olympics in Paris this year, the league MVP has received a less-than-warm response from the French fans. Embiid was booed early and often in Team USA's opening Olympics contest against Serbia over the weekend.
He had a simple response when asked about it by Joe Vardon of The Athletic, though.
“Nothing," Embiid said when asked how he felt about the boos. "Like I said I’m an American, I play for Team USA."
Vardon's reporting in that piece and prior articles suggests the French national team is still quite miffed about Embiid's decision to join the already-loaded Team USA. He would have made for quite the three-headed monster, manning the middle with Rudy Gobert and Victory Wembanyama.
Regardless, Embiid hasn't exactly had the smoothest transition to international play. He struggled with a stricter whistle in the exhibition matchups and lasted only 11 minutes in Team USA's Olympic opener. The American side is so loaded that his skillset is merely an added benefit rather than a crucial component of their effort to win another gold medal, as proven by their 26-point win over Serbia in that opener.
No matter how long Embiid appears on the court for the games this Olympics, he's going to keep hearing it from French fans, even if he did his best to avoid conflict when asked about it here.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Joel Embiid Had Simple Response When Asked About Getting Booed in Paris .
