Why Joel Embiid is hearing boos from French fans at Paris Olympics

He was the last one coming off the court Thursday, and Joel Embiid made sure those inside Bercy Arena were aware he was still there. 
After the United States pulled off its dramatic, comeback win over Serbia in the 2024 Paris Olympics men’s basketball semifinals, setting up an Olympic final against France Saturday, Embiid celebrated by embracing the controversy his presence on the American roster created for these Games. 
The Philadelphia 76ers star approached center court dancing to the beat of the music playing over the building’s loudspeakers. Upon seeing teammate Anthony Edwards, Embiid then made a gesture intended to taunt the crowd. The boos that have followed Embiid throughout the Olympic tournament intensified. He’s preparing for them to reach a crescendo when Team USA plays France in front of its home fans with a gold medal on the line in men’s basketball.    
Because Embiid could be  – and in the minds of many French people, should be – playing for France.
Here’s what you should know about the feud between Embiid and France and why the former NBA MVP became the heel French crowds love to boo at the Paris Games:
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Embiid was born in Yaounde, Cameroon on March 16, 1994. He didn’t start playing basketball until he was 15 years old. He moved to the United States a year later after NBA player and fellow Cameroon native Luc Mbah A Moute noticed him at a basketball camp in Africa.
Embiid has played in the states ever since then, emerging as a five-star recruit at The Rock School in Gainesville, Florida, per his 247Sports Composite profile. He then played one season at Kansas. Embiid was chosen by the 76ers with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft and has played in Philadelphia during his entire professional career.
Yes, but not before becoming a citizen in two other countries.
Embiid also had the opportunity to play for France or Cameroon in the Olympics. He gained citizenship to France in May 2022 through a clause there that allows naturalization to a foreigner whose naturalization is “of exceptional interest.” Embiid then revealed in September 2022 that he had also become a United States citizen, and cited his son as the motivation.
Embiid’s decision to play for the United States at the Paris Olympics was a sore subject in France long before the Games began.
When Embiid was granted French citizenship, speculation immediately followed he was planning to represent France two years later when it hosted the Olympics. There was the potential to team with Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert. Embiid has said there was never an agreement that he would play for France in exchange for gaining citizenship, but did reveal recently that French president Emmanuel Macron tried to recruit him.
Former NBA player Boris Diaw, who currently serves as the general manager of the French national team in men’s basketball, insisted to The Athletic that Embiid approached multiple times during the 2021-22 NBA season about his interest in playing for France. When France beat the United States 83-76 during the 2020 Olympics, snapping Team USA’s 25-game winning streak in Olympic competition, Embiid even tweeted, “Allez les Bleus” in celebration.
“Joel came to us and said that he wanted to play international basketball, he said he wanted to win, and he said he wanted to play for France and he wanted to win with France,” Diaw told The Athletic. “So we listened to him.”
This led French officials to bypass the typical routes to gain citizenship. Embiid did not have direct French heritage, nor had he lived in France for at least two years. But he and his son were granted a French passport because of what France could accomplish at the Olympics with him.
A year later, when Embiid announced he had committed to play for Team USA in Paris, he said his family’s connection to the United States was the determining factor.
“It was not easy,” Embiid wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter) explaining his decision in October 2023. “I am blessed to call Cameroon, France, and the USA home. “After talking to my family, I knew it had to be Team USA. I want to play with my brothers in the league. I want to play for my fans because they’ve been incredible since the day I came here. But most of all, I want to honor my son who was born in the US. I want my boy to know I played my first Olympics for him.”
Embiid’s choice to play for the United States was not met kindly by the French. 
“Team USA, with him, who can beat you? Come on, nobody,” French Basketball Federation president Jean-Pierre Siutat told The Athletic. “This is an easy way for him to get an Olympic medal.”
Frederic Weis — the former French national player who infamously got dunked on by Vince Carter during the 2000 Olympics — took it even more personally.
“I hate him for the things that he did. I think he doesn’t have any respect for France and also for all the people who are asking for a French passport and don’t get it. And under the pretext that he is a great athlete, he got it,” Weis said in April, via Eurohoops.net. “I find it scandalous, I find it embarrassing. I don’t care about his excuses, because they are his words, and his words mean nothing.
“I would take away from him the French nationality and I would ban him from entering France,” Weis added. “You will not play in the Olympics. You will come to the airport with Team USA and we will say, ‘You don’t have the right to enter the territory, go to your home. You are Cameroonian, you are American, you are not French, go away.'”
Since the Olympics began, Embiid has been booed consistently by the fans — when he’s in pregame warmups, when he’s introduced and when he’s touched the ball during games — in both Lille, France for the group stage, as well as in Paris during Team USA’s wins over Brazil and Serbia to reach Saturday’s gold medal game against France.
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Embiid’s reaction to the controversy has varied.
During the 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony, Team USA teammate Tyrese Haliburton jokingly brought up the controversy in a video posted on his Instagram account.
“Give your passport back,” Haliburton said.
“I’m American, man,” Embiid responded, waving a miniature American flag from the boat carrying the United States delegation of athletes along the Seine River during the parade of nations.
Embiid said last week when the topic came up again that he picked the United States because he felt more comfortable with the Americans and, “these guys wanted me.”
“A lot of people see (the boos) as hate, I see it as love and respect,” he told reporters in Paris last week. “If I wasn’t an OK basketball player, I would not receive that type of treatment. So I see myself as being blessed and that’s how I interact with that type of crowd and that type of stuff. I’m blessed to be here. I’ve seen worse. I’ve played in worse environments.”
“Playing in Philly, they boo their own guys more than opponents,” Embiid added. “Sometimes it feels like our fans are more against us when they’re supposed to be against the opponent. But like I said, it’s all love. It’s all because they want to push you, want you to do better. Just like with this crowd, it makes me want to be better and do more and do whatever it takes to win.”
Embiid suggested Friday that he would have played for Cameroon if his native country had qualified for these Olympics, and that he would consider doing so in the future. But since Embiid has played for the United States in an international competition, he would need a waiver from FIBA and USA Basketball to play for another country at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
For now, he’s ready to play the role of villain once more in front of what’s expected to be another raucous French crowd.
“I know myself. I’m going to interact myself and I’m going to enjoy it,” Embiid said Friday. “They’re going to boo me. I’m going to go back at them … and so it’s going to be fun.”
What Team USA is saying about Joel Embiid boos
“That’s all you can do is laugh about it,” Team USA coach Steve Kerr told reporters in Paris, according to the Associated Press. “He’s done a good job just making light of it. And his teammates obviously have his back. It’s all part of it. I’m sure he knew this was coming. And what I like is that after the French fans would boo, you could hear the American fans cheer. So, everybody seems to be having some fun with it.”
“It’s OK. He’s with us. Be mad. We don’t care,” U.S. guard Anthony Edwards said. “He chose us over y’all, so it’s all good.”
Embiid finally came through for Team USA with 19 crucial points against Serbia in the semifinals after an otherwise underwhelming performance. Charles Barkley accused him of being out of shape during an appearance on Paul George’s podcast. He is averaging 13 points and four rebounds over five games in Paris.  
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