Following Team USA’s victory over South Sudan, Gilbert Arenas made some controversial and xenophobic comments, prompting criticism from a lot of people online and even NBA baller, Joel Embiid who described the remarks as “disappointing.”
The ex-NBA player went on an offensive rant on Saturday shortly after LeBron James and team USA barely defeated South Sudan in an Olympic game, winning 101-100. Arenas strongly criticized the USA team’s performance and made controversial remarks about their opponent in a TikTok video that has been widely condemned as offensive.
“We got the males, almost lost to some Africans,” Arenas said. “Almost lost to the Ahi Ahi tribe. This is crazy.” The ex-Wizards player continued to criticize South Sudan by commenting on the standard of living and arguing that the United States should not be defeated by a team like the Jamaican bobsled team, known as “the Cool Runnings team” from the 1988 Winter Olympics. “This is crazy, man Embiid over there, throwing the game for his cousins and s–t,” Arenas added at one point.
Embiid, who was born in Cameroon and later became an American citizen, moved to the United States at the age of 16. In response to Arenas’ comments, Embiid stated that he did not support them and mentioned that he was not aware of the exact remarks made.
“If it was that negative it’s just that disappointing,” Embiid said. “Because you see what African basketball has done for us to be in this position to be able to make some sort of impact, even the position that I am [in]. … It’s really unfortunate, especially in the world we live in right now so much negativity.”