Joel Embiid chose to represent the United States over France at this year’s Olympics and it appears French fans want to make him regret the decision.
Embiid has been booed heavily in every Olympic game he’s played so far, but he appears to be taking it in his stride.
During Team USA’s 122-87 quarterfinal win over Brazil on Tuesday, the big man even responded by treating the crowd with his favourite celebration/taunt: the WWE-inspired “crotch chop”.
Joel Embiid got Snoop Dogg doing the DX Chop pic.twitter.com/SDi3ehQgBX
— Aidan Doc 🧸 (@AidanDoc__) August 6, 2024
Embiid has been fined twice by the NBA- for $60,000 – for doing the move, but has since learnt that he can do it at the Olympics without repercussion.
“Oh no, they still might find a way [to fine me], but that felt good,” Embiid said with a smile. “It’s good to have fun too, because at the end of the day, you got to take something out of this experience.”
Embiid had been largely underwhelming during the group stage, but against Brazil he put up 14 points and 7 rebounds on 5-of-6 shooting in 12 minutes of dominant play.
The disdain towards Embiid from French fans stems from the 76ers star having the option to play for France after the country granted him naturalized citizenship status in 2022, despite never living there.
He was born in Cameroon and at 16 years of age, moved to the United States, where he has since become a citizen.
Embiid also had the option of playing for Cameroon but the team was eliminated early in the qualifiers.
READ MORE: Joel Embiid Booed Heavily By French Fans in Team USA’s Opener