The Philadelphia 76ers may be an idle entity as of the moment, but they are not without representation this summer with superstar center Joel Embiid currently suiting up for Team USA in the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Embiid, who passed up on opportunities to play for hometown Cameroon and France to play for USA, has been constantly received with derision and angst from the Paris faithful. Unfortunately, Embiid has struggled so far in the tournament, delivering a couple of ugly performances in his Olympic debut.
One of his more colorful compatriots, however, quickly came to his defense.
Anthony Edwards defends 76ers star Joel Embiid amid rude Paris welcome
Anthony Edwards has never been one to shy away from boisterous talk, but this time, his jab came on the defensive end, shielding Embiid away from a French audience that has not been the most hospitable crowd.
In an exchange with BasketNews, Edwards expressed confusion as to the negative reception tendered by the home crowd to the 76ers star.
"You got Wemby and Rudy; why would he play with y'all? Wemby and Rudy, what more do y'all want? You want three 7-footers?"
There’s certainly a lingering sense of betrayal for a lot of French people with the way Embiid glossed Les Bleus completely despite initial interest from the big man to play for the nation — which directly resulted in him getting handed a French citizenship.
That being said, it’s not like their national team needed Embiid. Between Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert, France already has two, All-NBA caliber big men propelling them now and in the future. To be frank, what they need is more backcourt depth and talent as their big man nucleus is an obvious strength of theirs, rivaling, if not usurping, USA in that regard.
At this juncture, Parisians should know better than to spend all their energy booing Embiid, who’s unfazed by the cold welcome. One thing they should pivot to is demand more from their home team, which has been underperforming despite an immaculate record thansk to some controversial officiating.
Yikes.