Getty Team USA center Joel Embiid.
Every good story needs a villain, and in the case of the Olympic gold medal basketball game between Team USA and France on August 10, that villain will almost certainly be Team USA center and Philadelphia 76ers superstar Joel Embiid.
Embiid told ESPN’s Brian Windhorst that he was ready to play the bad guy one last time in Paris — a role he was thrust into when French crowds started booed him mercilessly.
“Frankly, I don’t understand why I’ve gotten a lot of criticism from the crowd,” Embiid told ESPN. “They’re going to boo me. I’m going to go back at them and tell them to ‘suck it.’ And so it’s going to be fun.”
Embiid, the 2023 NBA Most Valuable Player, is coming off perhaps the most memorable moment of his basketball career in Team USA’s thrilling 95-91 win over Serbia in the August 8 semifinal.
Team USA trailed by 13 points to start the fourth quarter but rallied to take the lead by making 10 consecutive baskets, including three straight baskets and seven consecutive points in the middle or the run as he finished with 19 points, four rebounds and one block.
Embiid Beef Goes Back to Citizenship Confusion
The animus against Embiid, who was born in Cameroon, comes from his bid to obtain French citizenship in July 2022, a process that involved French president Emmanuel Macron becoming involved and, according to France team officials, came with the understanding he would play for France in the Olympics.
Embiid has lived almost exclusively in the United States since he was 16 years old and in September 2022 became an American citizen. In October 2023, he announced on his official X account he would play for Team USA.
“I’m really proud and excited about this decision,” Embiid wrote. “It was not easy. I am blessed to call Cameroon, France, and the USA 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 came here. But most of all, I want to honor my son who was born in the US. I want my boy to know I played my first Olympics for him.”
I’m really proud and excited about this decision. It was not easy. I am blessed to call Cameroon, France, and the USA 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…
Team USA Trying to Win Fifth Consecutive Gold
Embiid is trying to help Team USA win its fifth consecutive gold medal.
On the NBA level, Embiid has found team success frustratingly elusive.
Drafted No. 3 overall in 2014 out of Kansas, Embiid is a seven-time NBA All-Star, five-time All-NBA Team pick and two-time NBA scoring champion. In his NBA MVP season in 2023, Embiid became the first center to lead the NBA in scoring since Shaquille O’Neal in 2000, the first center since Moses Malone in 1982 to average over 30 points and the first foreign-born player to lead the NBA in scoring.
Despite all those accolades, the 76ers have never played in the NBA Finals with Embiid on the roster — they’ve never even advanced past the Eastern Conference semifinals.
In 2024, Embiid played in only 39 games due to a knee injury and the 76ers were defeated by the New York Knicks in the first round of the playoffs.
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Former NBA MVP Ready For ‘Villain’ Role Against France in Olympic Finals