Joel Embiid has built up a reputation for being a foul-baiter and certainly doesn't seem to be interested in getting rid of it. Embiid is currently at Team USA's training camp for the 2024 Olympics and during a scrimmage, he drew a foul that caused a bit of an uproar on social media.
NBA fans blasted Embiid for his foul-baiting.
One fan couldn't believe Embiid did it during a scrimmage.
One does not understand how Embiid has fans.
A fan hilariously stated it is evil to foul-bait in the offseason.
One said Embiid is never beating the allegations.
A fan stated that Embiid has no shame.
It will be interesting to see if Embiid can draw fouls the way he usually does, at the Olympics. In the 2023-24 NBA season, the seven-time All-Star averaged 34.7 points, 11.0 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.7 blocks per game for the Philadelphia 76ers , while attempting a league-high 11.6 free throws per game.
It was the third time in the last four seasons that Embiid had led the league in FTAs per game and the 30-year-old has infuriated opposing players and coaches with all those trips to the line. I'm guessing the stars with him on Team USA wouldn't mind if he gets those trips to the line at the Olympics, though.
The grand event will be Embiid's first tournament as a member of the team. It was just last year, that the two-time scoring champion snubbed France and Cameroon for the U.S. It proved to be a bit of a controversial decision, with the French Basketball president calling out Embiid for choosing an easy path to the gold medal.
While I thought it was a bit unfair to call Embiid out over that, that decision almost guaranteed that he and Team USA would be winning the gold at the Olympics. There is no team really that can match their firepower at this point.
Embiid's competitive debut for Team USA might see him face off against Nikola Jokic , his great rival. The U.S. and Serbia have been drawn into Group C and will face each other on July 28. If Jokic does play, Embiid would have an opportunity to make quite a statement on debut.
Related: Joel Embiid On How Much It Means To Him To Play For Team USA
Joel Embiid Spoke On Being Called A Foul-Baiter
While the outside world has taken issue with Embiid's antics, he believes he is just smarter than everybody else. During an appearance on the Old Man and the Three podcast, Embiid spoke about being accused of foul-baiting.
“That’s not foul-baiting. This is basketball IQ. I’m in the penalty and right before that play, I knew that they had a couple of fouls. And it’s easy, this is basketball IQ.
“So people are always saying like flops and foul baiting so… That’s just me being smarter than everybody else. Like, if we in the penalty, you know what I’m about to do, you know what Chris Paul’s about to do. Like, we just smarter than everybody else. That’s just the rules of the game and we take advantage of that. That’s not my fault… that’s not anybody’s fault.”
Well, if the referees keep giving Embiid those calls, then he's going to keep at it. At this point, it doesn't look like anything is going to change, so you can expect these constant trips to the line for the 2023 MVP to continue, moving forward.
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