Here's Why French Fans Are Booing Joel Embiid at the Paris Olympics — and Why He Sees It as 'Respect'

Mar. 15, 2025

Joel Embiid of Team USA at Paris Olympics on August 6, 2024.Photo:Gregory Shamus/Getty

Joel Embiid Paris Olympics 2024

Gregory Shamus/Getty

Joel Embiiddoes not have many French fans at theParis Olympics.

Each time the USA Basketball star has touched the ball during their games in France, sections of the crowd have broken out into loud booing.

Embiid was born in Cameroon and moved to the United States as a teenager, where he plays for the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers. Although the 7-footer has never lived in France, he has family that reside in the country and speak fluent French, according toThe Athletic.

The relationship between Embiid and France’s basketball team began in 2018 after he toldFrench newspaper L’Eqipuethat he’d consider playing for Cameroon, the United States or potentially France in the FIBA tournament.

“My native country [Cameroon], France and the United States are my current options," the NBA star said at the time.

Joel Embiid competes for Team USA in the 2024 Paris Olympics.Gregory Shamus/Getty

Joel Embiid Paris Olympics 2024

According to the Athletic, this is where Embiid and the president of French Basketball, Jean-Pierre Siutat, do not agree.

In order for Embiid to have joined the French team, he would have had to obtain a French passport. Siutat reportedly insists that Embiid told him “yes” to playing for France, and instructed the president of basketball to “make the paper,” referring to his passport.

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Siutat said he obtained the documents for Embiid and his young son, Arthur, “with the help of the government” under the assumption that Embiid would play for Team France, per the Athletic’s reporting.

But a spokesman for Embiid, according to the outlet, maintains that the basketball star didn’t ask for that effort and that the French officials went ahead with granting the passports on their own accord.

Joel Embiid, and his son Arthur, as he receives The Michael Jordan KIA MVP Trophy n May 5, 2023.Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE/Getty

Joel Embiid, and his son Arthur, as he receives The Michael Jordan KIA MVP Trophy n May 5, 2023.

Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE/Getty

Embiid was granted French citizenship in 2022, according toCBSandYahoo Sports, but ultimately chose to play for Team USA in the Paris Olympics, claiming that the negotiations between himself and Team France never advanced beyond his initial expression of interest.

Embiid continued, “But it’s all about comfort level, and like I said, I’ve known these guys [the Team USA players] for a long time and I just felt more comfortable than on the other side.”

Embiid added, “There was some concern with the other side. Comfort level was huge. I always say I’m going to be where I’m wanted and these guys wanted me.”

When asked about his reaction to the booing, Embiid said, “At the end of the day, I think a lot of people think it’s hate. I see it as love and respect,” according toESPN. “If I wasn’t an OK basketball player, I would not receive that type of treatment and so I see myself as being blessed and that’s why I interact with them.”

source: people.com