Watch: Joel Embiid mocks booing fans with iconic DX celebration
Joel Embiid has arguably faced the most criticism this summer among the Team USA men’s basketball players because of his decision to suit up for the Americans. The Philadelphia 76ers center had the choice to play for Cameroon, France and the U.S., and decided to go with the 16-time Olympic gold medalists.
His decision definitely rubbed the French people the wrong way, as he has been consistently booed during Team USA’s games in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Embiid finally got some revenge after drawing an and-1 on Tuesday against Brazil in the quarterfinals.
Joel Embiid grabbed a rebound off of Jayson Tatum’s miss and was fouled as he went to the basket. Embiid’s shot went in and he got the whistle. The big man celebrated the call by doing the DX chop celebration at the booing crowd.
While Embiid has been known to use the cross-armed X-chop, it is more popularly used by Anthony Edwards among basketball players. The Minnesota Timberwolves star used it during the 2023-24 playoffs and has also brought it out during the Olympics.
Team USA led Brazil 63-36 at the half, with Joel Embiid accounting for 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
Joel Embiid explained his decision to play for Team USA
Before the 2024 Paris Olympics began, Embiid sat down for an interview with The New York Times' David Marchese. There, he spoke about his decision to play for the U.S. and what it meant to represent the country:
"It means a lot. I’ve spent half of my life here. I’ve got a great family, great wife, my son, so it just made a lot of sense. I’ve been given the opportunity to be here and accomplish a lot."
When asked about how he ended up making the decision between Cameroon, France and the U.S., Embiid replied:
"Obviously, I got my home country, Cameroon, which I love, and the U.S., where I’ve been for 14 years now, and then France, where I have a lot of family. I kind of felt rushed in that decision. I wanted to take as much time as possible, and it didn’t help that France had put an ultimatum on when the decision had to be made."
As per the Philly center, the alleged deadline imposed by France didn't help the country's cause. Now that Embiid is playing in the Olympics, he will just have to get used to the booing or silence the crowd with more and-1s, as he leads Team USA toward another Olympic gold medal.