Wait! Did Joel Embiid do it on purpose? As Team USA faced France in the Gold medal match of the Paris Olympics, there was a moment in the game when Victor Wembanyama noticeably lost his shoe and was forced to go to the sidelines and put it back on.
Well, no one batted an eye when the incident took place in real time.
However, upon reviewing the footage weeks later, fans have found an interesting detail that raises eyebrows at Embiid.
Yes, a Spurs faithful pointed out that Victor Wembanyama lost his shoe in the third quarter because the former MVP stepped on his heel while both big men were running back on defense after a made basket. But that’s not the interesting part! If you zoom in further, it looks like before Joel “accidentally” stepped on Wemby’s shoes, he took a brief glimpse at the French star’s foot and then planted his next step!
Sure enough, that has left many fans accusing Joel Embiid of tripping the Spurs star on purpose.
However, there is no solid proof of malicious intent from the former MVP as he immediately tries to maintain his balance and even attempts to stop Wemby from hitting the floor.
Thankfully, though, Victor was not seriously hurt by the play and went on to finish the game as the French fans wanted him to. He played arguably his best game of the tournament that night and finished with 26 points and ended up with a silver medal around his neck.
However, as fast as the appreciation flowed in for Team USA’s feat, criticism came at the same pace for Joel Embiid.
Hoops community deems Joel Embiid’s act ‘intentional’ after pulling out the receipt books
As expected, the footage of Embiid’s slight glimpse at Wemby’s foot was enough for the fans to slam the Sixers star on X as one claimed, “Joel’s reputation says it was malicious and intentional.” Over his decade-long career, Embiid has unfortunately garnered a reputation for being an unethical player, as he has recorded a whopping 24 flagrant fouls in 492 games.
Sharing the same sentiment, a fan even reminded everyone of Joel Embiid’s controversial plays, saying, “Everything with him is malicious. Check all the Knicks playoff videos.” During a heated Game 3 in Philly, Joel intentionally pulled Mitchell Robinson by his right knee as the Knicks star was in the air for a layup attempt.
What’s scary is that Mitchell had already been dealing with injuries all season long and The Process scaringly jeopardized his health once again with that play.
Meanwhile, a netizen accused Joel Embiid of being ‘sneaky’ with his intentions. The Process has definitely pulled off controversial moves in the past, like the Jalen Brunson one, which was more evident.
The Knick was on his way for a layup, Joel followed him and slammed him in the head and face before eventually reaching a part of the ball. Was that elongated range of movement necessary?
“Ya I saw that during the game.. just knowing how sneaky that guy is, my instinct was he was trying to injure him… he knows how vulnerable Wemby’s feet could be,” a fan wrote after looking at the Wemby video. Being a 7’4 big man, everyone knows that his feet could be his weakest point as most Centers deal with knee stress or ankle stiffness at some point in their careers.
Most fans deemed the play intentional, pointing out that NBA players usually have great body awareness and know what is around them at all times.
However, analyzing the move, one fan claimed, “Embiid crossed behind him unnaturally so I’m with it. Vet move. Wemby better backpedal when Embiid is around”.
As most of the fans accuse Joel Embiid of malicious intent, what are your thoughts about the viral Olympics clip? Do you think it was intentional? Let us know in the comments below.
