Here’s a drill for you during Team USA’s game against South Sudan. Close your eyes, turn up the volume and pinpoint the exact moment when Joel Embiid touches the ball. Probably 9/10 times you’ll get it right even if there’s no commentary. That’s how loud it was every time Embiid was near the ball when Team USA faced Serbia in the opening week. Against Sudan, expect more of the same.

“I would like to take the steps to obtain French naturalization and thus be eligible for selection with the Blues. I, therefore, do not wish to play for any other national team,” this is what Joel Embiid wrote to French President Emmanuel Macron in 2021. After this, there was no doubt in French minds that the Sixers star would play for them during the Paris Olympics, but now they’re seeing blue, a different shade of blue on Embiid. But this is just a forced issue, at least The Hoop Collective’s panel of Brian Windhorst, Tim MacMahon and Tim Bontemps think so.

During the latest episode of the show, the trio’s Olympics discussion involved Joel Embiid, who seemingly took the treacherous decision of ditching France in favor of Team USA. While his reasoning for the decision might be close to his heart, the French crowd never bought into it. But the other way around would’ve been equally awkward believes Windhorst. Highlighting it, the ESPN reporter said, “Him playing for France would have been a lot more awkward in terms of free agency than playing for the US.” In response, Bontemps said, “They (French crowd) still would be unhappy with him if he had just thought about playing for France and thought about playing for Team USA and then played for Team USA.”

Embiid spent his whole adulthood in the USA, playing for Kansas in his college days before joining the NBA. For him to play for Team USA made more sense in that regard. But he still went through the trouble of acquiring a French passport and is now facing the brunt of the Lillois rage. To explain the reason for the jeering he’s receiving, Tim Bontemps broke down the situation further.

Why is Joel Embiid getting booed in the Paris Olympics?

One can say Joel Embiid is getting booed because he’s been plain and simply bad whenever he was on the court for Team USA. But that outburst was mostly confined to the realms of social media. What happened in Lille with all the booing was strictly due to his U-turn decision on France. To explain the situation, Bontemps said, “I’m just saying the fans of the game are not booing because he got a passport. They’re booing because he’s not playing for France in the home Olympics for France. Joel has not played overall to the level that I’m sure he would like to…There’s still, what, 2 or 3 weeks left of this 2 weeks left of this thing. I’m sure he’ll have some good games here over the next couple of weeks.”

“I would also again remind everyone, we’re finding things to talk about when they beat probably the 3rd best team in the world by 30. Like, like, you know, all this stuff is sort of manufactured controversy,” the ESPN journalist concluded. Embiid is yet to showcase his upper-echelon talent for Team USA. His 4-point contribution against Serbia raised further scrutiny of the center‘s impact on Team USA’s overall gameplay. The South Sudan game will certainly be a platform for comeback for Joel Embiid to counter both criticism from home and away front.

And to absorb more interesting stories, watch the Dual Threat Show hosted by BG12 where the prodigy puts Bulldogs star Silas Demary Jr under the pump with loaded NBA questions and more in this video below.