Nicolas Batum Confirms Friendship Status With Joel Embiid as Major Controversy Takes Spotlight at Paris Olympics

Apart from the continuous bitter trolling for coach Steve Kerr on social media, another hot buzz that remained constant during the Paris Olympics’ campaign was Parisians booing the 7x All-Star Joel Embiid. The controversy around the Philadelphia 76ers joining Team USA rather than the Les Blues, for which he yearned at the time, was more of a betrayal for the host’s native audience. However, Embiid’s Sixers teammate from the previous season is not bulged with such prejudice as he revealed his true feelings for the ex-teammate ahead of the gold medal clash.

The 35-year-old recently expressed his views on Embiid and the controversy to the Athletic, stating, “I don’t care now. (Embiid) took the best decision for him. I’m happy for him. We’ve still got a good team. It’s nothing. It’s just basketball.” With NBA players like Bilal Coulibaly, Victor Wembanyama, Rudy Gobert, and Nicolas Batum, France has already got a roster full of giants. So they have merely lost any opportunity since Joel Embiid could only be an asset if he joined. But his refusal at the last moment was not a limp for Les Blues in any way.

That’s why Nicolas respected Embiid‘s decision to stay with Team USA, “He took the decision, and I got traded three weeks after, and we’re best friends (during the season).” Apparently, last season Batum played for the Sixers as he got traded to the Philly in October last year. However, Batum has re-signed with his old team, Los Angeles Clippers, for a 2-year $9.6 million deal.

Also, Batum seemed composed about crowd heckling Embiid as he added ahead of the Saturday game, “Hey, I played with (Embiid) in the (Madison Square) Garden. He’s used to it.” Well, he is not wrong there since Embiid did respond with his actions and held his composure, ignoring the hate and prejudice.

Despite all the heckling, Joel Embiid “Loves France”!

When Embiid did those crotch chops after scoring 19-point streaks against Serbia, it was a response to all the criticism and heckling he received in Paris. Ever since he stepped into the City of Love, the French did not let him forget the woes from his past as he represented Team USA on their soil. However, all the smoke of doubt snapped right away when the Sixers star defended his Serbian arch-nemesis Nikola Jokic and kept him scoring tight at the rim.

Ahead of the finale ahead, he might have been expecting louder boos from the Parisians with the showdown against their home nation. However, Embiid had no worries as he said post-game, “I don’t care. The job is to win the gold. I’m not going to sit here and say I don’t love France. I do love France. I have a lot of people here. … The banter against the fans, that’s love and respect.” Though love might be lost on the other side, it seems Joel Embiid still holds it.

However, the 30-year-old did not miss away ending his presser with a cheeky note ahead of the finale as he added, “I’m not sitting at my house like: ‘Oh my God, I want to play them. Oh my God, I hope it shakes out and ends up (against France) because it will be a beautiful ending and the fans are going to be going crazy. And then I’m going to enjoy all the boos’ — which I am going to.” Coming off a shake-off from Team Serbia, no doubt Team USA and Joel Embiid will be more fierce than ever on the court against Les Blues.

Before leaving, do watch the Dual Threat Show hosted by BG12 where Bulldogs’ Asia Avinger details her experience with Kobe Bryant, her WNBA ROTY picks, and more in the video below.