Joel Embiid heckled by fans upon arrival in Paris after Olympic flip-flop

Joel Embiid did not return to France as a conquering hero on Wednesday.

The 7-foot 76ers superstar decided to represent the United States over France for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, and it caused fans to heckle him as they spotted him walking to a Team USA bus.

“Give back your passport,” one fan said. “You should have played for France. You’re not American.”

Embiid, the Cameroon native – a former French colony in Africa – got his French passport in 2022 and expressed interest in representing them in the Olympics.

Gilbert Arenas went into xenophobic rant after Team USA’s narrow win over South Sudan

The French frontcourt already looked scary with Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert. Adding Embiid would’ve been a nightmare for opponents.

However, a few months later, the 30-year-old went back on his word, instead choosing to help Team USA seek its fifth consecutive gold medal medal after he became an American citizen.

“[The decision] was tough,” Embiid said on a New York Times podcast .

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“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.”

His decision ignited chaos outside the United States. In March, French basketball president Jean-Pierre Siutat was one of many who shunned him for the decision.

“Team USA, with him, who can beat you? Come on, nobody,” Siutat told The Athletic . “This is an easy way for him to get an Olympic medal.”

Despite Siutat’s claim, Team USA hasn’t strung together many gold-medal-worthy performances through their first five scrimmages.

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Notably, South Sudan – the 43 ½-point underdogs – held them to a one-point game while the Americans shot 25 percent from downtown.

Embiid in particular has struggled, looking rusty after dealing with a number of injuries at the end of last season.

He finally had a breakout performance in the US’ final warmup, a 92-88 win over Germany on Tuesday.

“People who watch me know that every season it takes me a couple of games to get going, and this is no different,” Embiid said, per ESPN . “That’s the reason we’ve got preseason games. I feel like myself and I’m going to keep going and I’m going to be playing at that MVP level I’ve played for the last five or six seasons.”

Australia poured 68 points in the paint against them and forced Team USA into 18 turnovers.

The superstar-laden American team will have much to prove on Sunday as they open up Olympic group play against Serbia and three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic.

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