During the pre-Olympic exhibition games, Team USA has made a strong impression. The friendly matchups resulted in the American men’s basketball team winning five consecutive games. On July 28th in Lille, France, Team USA will have their opening game against Serbia.
The American squad traveled to France with the goal of winning another gold medal for their nation. However, not every team member received a warm welcome at the train station. Star player Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers was met with some surprising remarks from the French as he departed the train station in Paris.
A fan from the crowd criticized Embiid, suggesting that he is not American and should play for France.
“Give back your passport, Joel… you should have played for France!” and “You’re not American, bro!” Fan said to Embiid.
Embiid Reveals Why He Chose Team USA Over France
In an interview with David Marchese of the New York Times, Embiid explained his choice to play for Team USA instead of France as he gears up for his first Olympic appearance.
“Obviously, I got my home country, Cameroon, which I love, and the U.S., where I’ve been for 14 years now, and then France, where I have a lot of family. I kind of felt rushed in that decision. I wanted to take as much time as possible, and it didn’t help that France had put an ultimatum on when the decision had to be made. There’s a lot of things going on over there. There’s a lot of pushback as far as basically kicking out the French because it’s been so many years of oppression. So that was my mindset. I still have my family living in Cameroon, and I don’t want to put them through any of that stuff. I want them to be safe, and the relationship between France and Cameroon or Africa in general is just not good.” Embiid said.
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Team USA, often regarded as the most successful team in international competition, has struggled in their last two exhibition games against South Sudan and Germany. After the games, a former NBA player criticized the American team by saying that the 1992 Dream Team was better than Team USA.
Also Read: Kendrick Perkins Weighs In On Why the Pressure On Joel Embiid Is Unlike Any Other In The NBA
