Joel Embiid’s ongoing personal rivalry with French fans resurfaced on Saturday, but it did not exactly go well for him in this instance.
Embiid has been regularly booed in Paris by French fans unhappy with his decision to play for Team USA instead of for France. He has largely embraced the reception he has gotten, and that was certainly the case on Saturday as the seconds ticked down in Team USA’s 104-84 win over Puerto Rico.
With time running out, Embiid gestured to the crowd, encouraging them to boo and jeer him. Once he got the reaction he wanted, he threw up a deep three that would have served as quite the exclamation point. There was just one problem: he completely airballed it.
Embiid is so funny man LOL pic.twitter.com/AOUvXLGGjh
— J🐐 (@SixersJustin) August 3, 2024
Embiid probably won’t lose too much sleep over this, but the crowd sure loved it. There is always a risk that sort of move will backfire, and while it hardly mattered in the scope of the game, the Philadelphia 76ers star probably wishes that one had gone down.
Embiid has previously said he does not really have any reaction to the boos from the French fans. He certainly knows about them, though, and this is proof of that.
