Joel Embiid opted to play for Team USA over France at this year’s Olympics and many French fans are still upset about it.
Embiid received a frosty reception from the Paris crowd in Team USA’s Olympic opener against Serbia on Sunday, with the fans booing him every time he touched the ball.
Embiid had the option to play for France after the country granted him naturalized citizenship status in 2022, despite never living there.
The Philadelphia 76ers star was born in Cameroon and moved to the United States when he was 16 years old. He has since become a U.S. citizen.
“I’m really proud and excited about this decision,” Embiid wrote on Twitter last October in a post confirming he would play for Team USA at the Paris Olympics. “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.”
Embiid also had the option of playing for Cameroon but the team was eliminated early in the qualifiers.
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