By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
With Joel Embiid officially joining Team USA for the upcoming Olympics, the reactions in France about his choice, since he initially wanted to play for the French national team in the Paris Olympics, remain more than vocal.
Frederic Weis, Olympic silver medalist in 2000 and the victim of the notorious “dunk of death” by Vince Carter, didn’t hold back, talking about Embiid on his radio show at the French station RMC.
As Weis said: “I consider this boy a great player as much as he is a dirty guy. 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. I find it scandalous, I find it embarrassing. I don’t care about his excuses, cause they are his words, and his words mean nothing”.
The former player turned television analyst explained why without holding any punches also about the decision of France to try to use him in the national team: “We must put in context one thing: Joel Embiid is an extraordinary basketball player. He was the MVP of the NBA last year and that’s why France decided to give him the passport last summer because, on the sporting level, we would have amazing gains. For me, we are living in an era of sports business and now we are choosing the national team, pretty much the way we are choosing our club. Who gives me the better offer? Who is giving me the best chance to win? I will go there. And unfortunately, that’s accepted pretty much everywhere”.
When it was pointed out to Weis, that Embiid started the process in 2021, and he of course knew even back then that the USA would be the overwhelming favorite to win the 2024 Olympic Games, Weis had an answer.
“Just remember what happened in 2021”, said Weis talking about the final in Tokyo between France and the USA which ended with the final score being 87-82, “We were in the final against the USA, and the final margin was close. France was always in the top echelon of the contenders”.
So how Weis would like to see the whole situation resolved? He joked but his words were harsh: “I would take away from him the French nationality and I would ban him from entering France. 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 Cameronian, you are American, you are not French, go away”.