While Team USA cruised through Serbia in the Olympics opener, Joel Embiid’s struggles continued in Paris. Although he had some performance issues during the Showcase games, fans hoped he would find his groove once the actual tournament began. However, Embiid’s debut against Nikola Jokic’s squad was so abysmal that Steve Kerr was forced to pull him out within the first two and a half minutes. Disappointed with his Olympics debut, media veteran Colin Cowherd urged Kerr to poach French sensation Victor Wembanyama to replace the former MVP.

Discussing Joel’s possibly illness-affected performance on The Herd, Colin had some harsh things to say about the Sixers superstar, “He is the most over-hyped, coddled and over-discussed; my bad, player in the NBA.” After his shaky start, Embiid’s performance did not get any better as the game went on, finishing with only 4 points and 2 rebounds. Sure enough, Kerr realized Joel Embiid’s weak impact and played him only eleven minutes all game.

And Cowherd was so frustrated by Embiid’s lack of production that he made an ambitious wish to replace him mid-Olympics. “Embiid meanwhile was the only American player with a minus in the plus-minus category. He’s getting heckled now by French fans because he chose to play for the US. My only question now, can you make trades during the Olympics? Can we get Wemby?”

“I’ll give you Embiid and future draft picks. Just give us Wemby!” Unlike Embiid, Wemby had a dominant Olympic debut against Brazil, scoring 19 points and 9 rebounds and leading France to a 78-66 victory, despite an early deficit. Impressed by the youngster’s performance, his head coach, Vincent Collet, even crowned him with the ultimate honor. “He’s obviously already our leader.”

Meanwhile, Joel Embiid is out here struggling to find his rhythm even though he is among the only three players alongside LeBron and Steph who have been in the starting lineup since the first Showcase game against Canada. And we all remember how that turned out for The Process, as he suffered another embarrassment after getting fouled out in just 12 minutes.

However, unfortunately for Colin Cowherd, this isn’t the NBA, and Team USA cannot trade Embiid for Wemby mid-way as he urged them to! During this same rant, the media vet also made several references to Nikola Jokic. Well, when one hears that name in the sentence as Joel Embiid, here’s the obvious next question.

Is the Joel Embiid vs. Nikola Jokic discussion over?

Another reason why Embiid’s Olympic debut is being dissected so closely is because he was going head-to-head against his on-court rival Nikola Jokic. However, Cowherd believes that their Olympics matchup clearly proves that Jokic is tiers above, “Jokic and Embiid on the floor at the same time, it’s not close, they’re not the same player.” While Embiid struggled, Jokic single-handedly kept his team in the game against an elite Team USA squad. During the 31 minutes that he was on the floor, Serbia went 81-81 against the Americans. However, they were -26 when he left the floor for those few minutes!

Finishing with 20 points and 8 assists, Nikola showed why he is deemed by many as the best player in the world. And Cowherd claimed Embiid shouldn’t be compared to Jokic anymore, “Let’s not put him (Embiid) in that class anymore. He can’t stay healthy, he doesn’t win enough, he clogs up the offense, and it was all on display yesterday… We can officially now stop comparing Embiid and Jokic.”

Be it in the NBA or the Olympics, Nikola Jokic has proven time and again that he is ‘The Guy’ over Embiid. While the Serbian has led the Nuggets to a title, Joel Embiid has yet to get out of the second round of the playoffs in a weaker East Conference, these past seasons. He’s yet to clock in 70 regular season games in his last eight seasons! And the way he has been struggling with fitness and form, despite teaming up with some of the best players in the world, does not help his case. Do you agree?

Before you go, do not forget to check out this crossover between BG12 and Georgia Bulldogs star Silas Demary Jr.