Frederic Weis, the infamous victim of Vince Carter’s 2000 gravity-defying Olympic dunk, wants Joel Embiid to be banned from the Olympics and France after Embiid snubbed the country’s Olympic team, he said on his radio show.
Weis, who will likely always be best remembered for the dunk the French call “Le dunk de la mort,” or “the dunk of death,” took exception to what he viewed as a cynical attempt by Embiid to gain French citizenship.
Embiid, who was born and raised in Cameroon but has a French family, flirted with the idea of joining France’s national team for the 2024 Paris Games. In a leaked letter Embiid allegedly wrote to French President Emmanuel Macron, Embiid appears to pledge himself to the French team in exchange for a French passport. (RELATED: NBA’s Next Top Pick Is Going To Be Another European … Is America Losing Her Athletic Edge?)
“My choice has been made … I do not wish to play for any other national team,” an English translation of the French letter published by journalist Benjamin Moubèche reads.
Joel Embiid a envoyé une lettre à Emmanuel Macron en 2021, dans laquelle il a promis de jouer pour l’équipe de France afin d’obtenir la nationalité française, selon @RMCsport.
Extrait de la lettre : « Mon choix est arrêté […] Je ne souhaite jouer pour aucune autre équipe… pic.twitter.com/mVLV7xrhkF
— Benjamin Moubèche (@BenjaminMoubech) April 18, 2024
Embiid obtained the passport from France, according to CBS Sports, but ultimately decided to play for Team USA and is now on their roster.
Weis is absolutely livid at what he seems to view as an opportunist trick from Embiid.
“I consider this boy a great player as much as he is a dirty guy. I hate him for the things that he did. I think he doesn’t have any respect for France and also for all the people who are asking for a French passport and don’t get it,” Weis said on his RMC radio show. “And under the pretext that he is a great athlete, he got it. I find it scandalous, I find it embarrassing. I don’t care about his excuses, cause they are his words, and his words mean nothing”
Weis excoriated Embiid and, perhaps jokingly, called for him to be banned from both the upcoming Olympics and the country at large.
“I would take away from him the French nationality and I would ban him from entering France. You will not play in the Olympics. You will come to the airport with Team USA and we will say: You don’t have the right to enter the territory, go to your home. You are Cameroonian, you are American, you are not French, go away,” he concluded.
Embiid is currently battling through an ailing knee to try and help his Philadelphia 76ers defeat the New York Knicks in the first round of the NBA playoffs. He’s looked limited at times so it’s yet to be seen if the banged-up joint will preclude him from participating in the Olympic games. But it would surely be adding insult to injury if the Olympic hosts turned him away at the border, trading him a snub for a snub.
Frankly, I wouldn’t blame them. I enjoy watching Embiid play, but he clearly played France and Macron for citizenship here and any turnabout would be fair play.