Every time Joel Embiid touched the ball during Team USA’s 110-84 win over Serbia at the Paris Olympics on Sunday, even during pregame warmups, fans booed the seven-time NBA All-Star. Embiid, born in Cameroon, became a French citizen in 2022, making him eligible to play for the host country.
But Embiid, 30, avoided overtures from France and instead, has committed to play with the Americans on October 5 during a personal meeting with Team USA General Manager Grant Hill.
“It was not easy,” Emiid said on X about his decision to play for Team USA. “I’m blessed to call Cameroon, France, and the U.S. home. After talking to my family, I knew it had to be Team USA. I want to play with my brothers in the league. I want to play for my fans, because they’ve been incredible since the day I got here. But most of all, I want to honor my son who was born in the U.S. I want my boy to know that I played my first Olympics for him.”
Former NBA champion and French general manager Boris Diaw said The Athletics in March that Embiid told him several times during the 2021-22 NBA season that he wanted to play for France.
“Joel came to us and said he wanted to play international basketball, he said he wanted to win, and he said he wanted to play for France and he wanted to win with France,” Diaw said.
French basketball president Jean-Pierre Siutat agreed with Diaw.
“So I do the job, with the help of the government, to get a passport for him and his son. And all the time he said, ‘I want to play for the French national team,'” Siutat said, referring to the passport.
Embiid, through his spokesman, denied in the March report that there was any explicit reciprocity.
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Former French international Frederic Weis, who was dunked by Vince Carter at the 2000 Olympics, did not take issue with Embiid not playing for France.
“I hate him for the things he did,” Weis said in April via Eurohoops.net. “I think he has no respect for France and for all those people who ask for a French passport and don’t get it. And under the pretext of being a great athlete, he got it. I think it’s scandalous, I think it’s shameful.”
The emotions shown by the fans in Paris are, while less intense than with Weis, likely a result of disappointment over Embiid’s decision not to play with France.
I’m really proud and excited about this decision. It wasn’t easy. I’m blessed to call Cameroon, France, and the U.S. home. After talking to my family, I knew it had to be Team USA. I want to play with my brothers in the league. I want to play in front of my fans, because they… photo.twitter.com/6VHSQTKVl3
— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) October 5, 2023
Emiid responded to fan reactions in France ahead of Team USA’s practice on Tuesday.
“Nothing. Like I said, I’m an American, I play for Team USA,” Embiid said.
The five-time All-NBA selection averaged 10.4 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists as a starter in five exhibition games. Embiid finished with four points and two rebounds in 11 minutes of action in Monday’s win over Serbia as Team USA improved to 1-0. The U.S. plays South Sudan on Wednesday.
France, ranked ninth by FIBA when the Olympics began, is 2-0 with its next game on Aug. 2 against Germany. The French team has a roster that includes several NBA players, including Victor Wembanyama, Rudy Gobert, Nicolas Batum, Frank Ntilikina, Evan Fournier and Bilal Coulibaly.
With the US in Group C and France in Group B, both teams had to exit the group stage to play each other.
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(Photo: Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP via Getty Images)
