Strong Agree: Joel Embiid is a “necessity player” not a luxury for Team USA according to Brian Windhorst live from the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris

From initially joining team USA to this point in time, Joel Embiid has been a constant topic of conversation among the media and fans alike. Not just in this country but throughout the world for that matter.

So much so, as he arrived to Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics, he was heckled by French fans.

Disgusting Behavior: Joel Embiid heckled by French Fans as he arrives to Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics >>

All bias and hatred aside there’s no denying the impact and importance that a healthy Embiid provides for any basketball team. There’s a reason why Steve Kerr has continuously started the dominant two-way big man despite his struggles in the first few exhibition games. Which is comical because all the dorks on twitter are screaming for him to be benched for an old Anthony Davis and Bam Adebayo, who is a glorified role player if we’re being honest.

Have you people forgotten that Joel is an MVP, and would have won his second consecutive one if it wasn’t for that injury, and he’s a multi-time scoring champion. While he may not be the perfect “team-player” he’s extremely necessary this year due to all the size and versatility they will be facing in Paris.

According to Brian Windhorst of ESPN, Team USA’s gold medal aspirations could ride on the shoulders of Embiid. (Sound familiar?)

“Against teams that have huge size like Nikola Jokic and the French who have Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert, he’s going to be extremely important for the Americans. The difference between the Americans winning the gold or not could end up being Joel Embiid. This is not a luxury player. This is a necessity player… So Joel playing should not be considered, you know, something to be criticized. It should be considered something to be applauded. And I’m not so sure why it defaults to the criticism. And I guess maybe that’s one of the reasons why he feels that he’s hated.”

"The difference between the Americans winning the gold and not could end up being Joel Embiid."

—@WindhorstESPN on Joel Embiid's potential impact on the U.S. Men's National Team in the Olympics 👀 pic.twitter.com/UasZtIMdWI

— First Take (@FirstTake) July 26, 2024

Shoutout to Windy for holding it down for the Joel truthers out there

This has become a bit of a broken record for Sixers fans as we are accustomed to Embiid taking a few games to warm up. It has been a constant theme of his career unfortunately due to him nursing injuries or even learning a new offense that consists of building chemistry with new teammates. Which again, is something he has had to do time and time again on the 76ers.

So, it should come as no surprise that he took a little bit to adjust to Olympic basketball which is something completely new for him.

After challenging trips to Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi, Joel Embiid displayed his usual dominant form in London. In a thrilling win against South Sudan, despite some turnovers, he scored 14 points, hitting 5 of his 6 shots. Then, in a comeback victory over Germany, Embiid filled the stat sheet with 15 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and only 1 turnover.

Following the game, Embiid, expressed by his renewed confidence, discussed his initial slow start with Team USA and shared what fans can anticipate from him at the Olympics.

“People who watch me know that every season know that it takes me a couple of games to get going and this is no different. That’s the reason we’ve got preseason games. I feel like myself and I’m going to keep going and I’m going to be playing at that MVP level I’ve played for the last five or six seasons.”

@libertylinephl

Joel Embiid reminding all the dorks in France that he’s AMERICAN. USA USA USA 🇺🇸 america olympicgames embiid embiidmvp joelembiid21 joelembiidmvp joelembiid teamusa olympics olympics2024 nba 76ers 76ersbasketball sixersnation sixers sixersbaskeball southphilly philly phillytiktok philadelphia philadelphia76ers lebronjames stephcurry paris france france🇫🇷

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