Serbian President accuses Joel Embiid of ‘travel’ after Team USA’s iconic comeback at Paris Olympics

The USA ran out victorious against Serbia in one of the most fiercely contested basketball games at the Paris Olympics. Indeed, it was a game where the top NBA stars in the American team such as Stephen Curry, rose up to decide fate on the night. However, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has taken issue with Joel Embiid for seemingly ‘travelling’ during the game.

In a video posted by the President of Serbia via his official page on X (formerly Twitter), Joel Embiid was seen taking a pass from a teammate and proceeding to score after dodging several Serbian defenders. With lots of refereeing calls in the game deemed controversial, the Serbian President has accused the USA star of breaking the rules against his country.

In which country are these not steps? P.S. Next time, tell us in advance who we can’t beat.
Serbian President wrote on X

While it’s the usual practice for basketball players to try and score points for their teams, President Vucic appears to be upset with Embiid making that dribble. He pointed out that the dribble was a gross violation of the basketball rules and wondered if the officials were picking sides.

For context, ‘travelling’ is a violation of the rules of basketball in which a player takes more than a predetermined number of steps. This means that taking more steps past this limit without dribbling will result in turnover of the ball to the other team. Nevertheless, a penalty wasn’t awarded against the USA and Embiid during that period of the game. It could be that the officials didn’t find any foul play, or they simply missed it.

Team USA stars support Joel Embiid, after getting booed by French crowd at Olympics

Ahead of the Paris Olympics. Joel Embiid chose to represent the USA over France. Needless to say, that decision did not go down well with the French fans, who took it upon themselves to belittle him when the opportunity arose. As someone who is Cameroonian by birth, he is eligible to also play for France. And just before the team played South Sudan, Embiid was heavily booed for choosing to wear the American jersey instead.

However, his USA teammate Anthony Edwards came to his defense and hit back at the French fans. While reacting to the treatment dished out to the 76ers star, Edwards has a few words to say.

I don’t know why he gets booed all the time, But you got Wemby and Rudy; why would he play with y’all?… You want three 7-footers?
Anthony Edwards said