Joel Embiid honored with with ‘Order of Valor’ medal from Cameroon days after winning gold medal for Team USA

Team USA Gold medal winner, Joel Embiid has been making the headlines lately on his recent visit to Cameroon.

Joel Embiid honored with with ‘Order of Valor’ medal from Cameroon days after winning gold medal for Team USA

Joel Embiid

Team USA star Joel Embiid has been at the center of the talking point amongst basketball fans around the world for the past few days. Notably, Embiid was criticized heavily by the USA fans for his performances with Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics. However, Embiid’s presence proved to be immense in the knockout stages for Team USA.

In addition, Embiid fulfilled his goal to win an Olympic gold medal with Team USA in the 2024 Paris Olympics. While Embiid has been chastised for choosing to represent Team USA over his own Cameroon or France, Cameroon embraced him as a national hero on his visit. The Cameroonian government gave him the glorious ‘Order of Valor’.

Interestingly, “The Order of Valor” is bestowed upon Cameroonians who have achieved “exceptional achievements in the fields of arts, science, agriculture, commerce, or industry.” Embiid attended the event with his father, a colonel in the Cameroonian Army. It’s important to note that, Embiid had previously hinted at representing Cameroon at the 2028 LA Olympics after winning Gold with Team USA.

On the sports side of things, Embiid had a dismal tournament by his standards, scoring an average of 11.2 points. However, he came through for Team USA with 19 points in their semi-final versus Nikola Jokic‘s Team Serbia, outperforming his opponent in one of the biggest international matchups of all time. It remains whether or not Embiid changes his alliances in the next 2028 LA Olympics.

Joel Embiid was egging French fans to boo more at Paris Olympics

Team USA basketball player Joel Embiid was the talk of the town amongst French fans as he chose to represent the United States rather than France at the Paris Olympics. Notably, he received French citizenship in 2022 despite never having resided in the country. There was widespread belief inside France’s national basketball squad that he would represent the nation at the Paris Games.

In addition, as soon as Embiid entered the court for pre-game warmups he was jeered by boos and hate by the French side. However, the USA star could care less and embraced the hostile French environment. Eventually, Embiid and his nation, Team USA got the better of Team France at the Finals of the Paris Olympics.

Also, ahead of the finals against Team France, Embiid once again asserted that he “enjoys the boos” from the French fans. Not only that, but he also told the French fans ‘to suck it.’ On the other hand, Embiid has made his feelings known about changing his alliances in the 2028 LA Olympics, representing either Cameroon or France next time around.

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