“Wasn’t as good ”: Joel Embiid Makes Shocking Confession About Stephen Curry & Team USA’s Paris Olympics Triumph

The France versus Team USA game turned out to be exactly as Steve Kerr and his team were expecting. While all the members of the USAB were having hangovers the next days with their success at the Olympic stage in Paris, Joel Embiid came under fire from many French hoop lovers during the tournament. It all went back to his origin. Furious at the Cameroonian for representing Team USA despite obtaining French citizenship, the fans lashed out at him. And that could explain why Embiid didn’t have a great experience at the Olympics.

Prior to joining the training camp, Embiid sat with the reporters for a Q&A session on the Philadelphia 76ers Media Day. The interviewers dived right into the obvious question about Embiid’s experience at the Olympics before the man could settle in comfortably. What happened next was beyond everyone’s expectations. While they were anticipating a positive response, the Sixers’ center answered, “It wasn’t as good as I expected.” Though he accepted that winning the gold medal made it great and so was playing with Stephen Curry and Co., there was much more to it that Embiid was anticipating.

“I went in, and I was so excited about it. Maybe I had too much Yeah. Expectations,” the 30-year-old added. “The group of guys that we had, you know, team USA, representing the country was great.” However, it wasn’t enough for the big man to conclude that his time in Paris was thrilling as the others have often stated. After hearing about Joel Embiid’s slight disappointment, the interviewer asked him how different it was for him to play in the Olympics than in the league and his confession came as another shock.

Joel Embiid pointed out the referees’ agenda at the Olympics

There were multiple takeaways for Joel Embiid on his first tour to the Olympics. Although the 2-time scoring champion stated it wasn’t too different, the physicality was something that he highlighted. He felt it was softer in the Olympics. “We talk a lot about flopping in the NBA but I actually thought there was more flopping over there,” Embiid said.

Embiid also mentioned how the league got rid of fouling rules which happened there a lot. Then he further added, “The referees, I felt like there was something against us, Americans. I remember there was a call against me, I tried to talk to the ref and then he was like this is not the NBA.” There were some controversial officiating calls during the Olympics. South Sudan were furious with the refereeing that ended their Olympic journey. Japan’s Rui Hachimura was also ejected after a potentially bad call from the officials. LeBron James was seen arguing with the refs multiple times, so it’s not something out of order for Embiid to point out.

One thing is for sure, Joel Embiid doesn’t shy away from speaking his mind out. But did he go too far this time? Only time will tell. For now, he will be spotted training with the Sixers and especially their new acquisition Paul George to form good chemistry before heading to the preseason journey.