“I don’t answer in French”, when Joel Embiid reprimands a journalist after the game

After a second loss to the New York Knicks in the first round of the NBA playoffs on Tuesday, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid refused to answer a question posed in French by a reporter. On the verge of becoming French to participate in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, the player of Cameroonian origin finally chose Team USA.

Dejected after the Philadelphia 76ers’ second defeat against the New York Knicks on Tuesday (104-101) in the first round of the NBA playoffs, Joel Embiid refused to answer a question asked in French by a journalist. The player of Cameroonian origin had nevertheless applied for French citizenship before the Olympic Games in Paris 2024, before choosing Team USA.

“Is this one of the hardest games…” says a French journalist in attendance for the 76ers, despite Joel Embiid’s 34 points. The American player cuts him off and replies, “I don’t take questions in French.” However, it was in French that the Cameroonian pivot wrote his letter to Emmanuel Macron to request that he be naturalized before the Olympic Games.

A promise to play for the Blues was not kept

“After discussion with the French Basketball Federation, my choice has now been made. I want to take steps to get French naturalization and thus be able to be selected with the blues, we can read specifically. I therefore do not want to play for any other national team, ” he assured the President of the Republic.

Born in Cameroon, the 30-year-old center, MVP of the 2022-2023 season and NBA star of the Philadelphia 76ers, has held American and French passports for several months, and has long hesitated between the two countries to compete in the Paris Games. Joel Embiid is finally one of the twelve players selected by the USA on April 17, forming a new “dream team” with LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant.