Joel Embiid reacts to Gilbert Arenas’ disparaging remarks about South Sudan’s Olympic team

Embiid said he does not condone any negative comments about Africa and spoke to the continent's contributions to his basketball career.

by DeAntae Prince

Published July 23, 2024, 3:27 p.m. ET

After Team USA’s close win over South Sudan in the lead up to the Paris Olympics, the focus was largely centered on the valiant effort of a little-known roster.

When former NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas spoke on the Olympic tune-up, he added comments that many online believed were xenophobic. “We got the males almost lost to some Africans,” Arenas said before making a disparaging gesture.

He also pulled in 76ers star Joel Embiid, who chose to play for USA Basketball over his native Cameroon (in addition to France), and referenced a movie centered on an American coach finding a basketball player in a Kenyan tribe. He later incorrectly referenced a movie about a Jamaican bobsled team.

“Man, Embiid over there throwing games for his cousins and [expletive],” Arenas said. “We wasn’t supposed to be losing to The Air Up There. Come on, man. Cool Runnings, we’re not supposed to be losing to the Cool Runnings team.”

Asked by Africa Basket about the comments, Embiid, who had not seen the clip, said he was disappointed that Arenas would speak ill of Africa in any way.

“Obviously, I don’t condone it,” Embiid said. “I’m African, first and foremost. I might be playing for Team USA, but I’m Cameroonian, first and foremost. I don’t know exactly what he said so I can’t comment on it. But if it was that negative, it’s just disappointing.”

Embiid, who didn’t play basketball until 15, continued to speak about what Africa has done for him and the players on South Sudan’s Olympic roster put together by former NBA player Luol Deng, who was born in what is now South Sudan.

“You see what African basketball has done for us to be in this position, to be able to make some sort of impact,” Embiid said. “Even the position that I am, still have a lot of impact where I’m from and the whole continent of Africa. And that’s never going to stop.”