Joel Embiid is out to silence a hostile French crowd when Team USA face the hosts in the men's basketball gold medal match at the Paris Olympics on Saturday.
Embiid, who was born in Cameroon but was granted US citizenship in 2022, declared for Team USA late last year after his home country failed to qualify.
That decision came after he also sought French citizenship, amid suggestions president Emmanuel Macron had called the Philadelphia 76ers star to convince him to represent the hosts.
Embiid has been jeered by French fans throughout the basketball tournament, with the USA winning all five of their games to date, reaching the final with Thursday's comeback victory over Serbia.
On the eve of Saturday's gold medal match, Embiid said: "Frankly, I don't understand why I've gotten a lot of criticism from the crowd.
"They're going to boo me. I'm going to go back at them and tell them to 'suck it.' It's going to be fun."
Reflecting on his decision to link up with LeBron James, Stephen Curry and company in representing the USA, Embiid said he would have played for Cameroon if they had qualified.
"Having lived half of my life in the US and the other half in my country, Cameroon, it just looked like it was, 'you could go two ways'," Embiid said.
"I said from the beginning that if Cameroon would've qualified, that would never have been a choice. Then having the family [in the US] and having built a lot of things and having accomplished a lot of things, knowing the group of guys deeply, it just made it easy.
"I think a lot of people wanted to make it an issue because of the storyline and all that stuff.
"But to me it's whatever it takes to win gold. So that's what I'm focused on. It's all about Team USA against France."
Jokic leads Serbia to Olympic bronze with dominant Germany win
Nikola Jokic played a starring role as Serbia put their Olympic semifinal disappointment behind them to clinch the bronze medal with a 93-83 win over Germany.
Serbia gave up a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter against the United States on Thursday as they narrowly missed out on a place in the final, but they responded strongly to ensure they did not leave Paris empty-handed.
Jokic was dominant in that game, and he provided the spark once more on Saturday as he finished with a triple-double, getting 19 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists.
Vasilije Micic matched Jokic's tally of 19, while Bogan Bogdanovic, the program's all-time leading scorer, added 16.
After a promising start to the Olympics by Germany, they have trailed off in recent matches, and they struggled to match the early pace set by Serbia as they fell 30-21 behind in the first quarter.
Though they matched Serbia evenly in the second quarter, any hopes of getting their hands on their first Olympic basketball medal soon faded in the third, with the 19-point gap proving too much for them to turn over.
Serbia claimed their first medal in the Olympic event since earning silver in Rio 2016.
De la Fuente lauds Spain's 'historic' Olympic success
Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente says world football should take note after La Roja's Under-23 side claimed Olympic gold in Paris on Friday.
De la Fuente oversaw a record-breaking fourth European Championship crown with victory over England last month, and Spain's youthful Olympic side followed up that success in the French capital.
Sergio Camello came off the bench to score twice in extra time, beating hosts France 5-3 to add the Games' top prize to their glittering trophy cabinet.
De la Fuente, who led the Under-23 side to silver at Tokyo 2020 before taking the senior role, believes Spanish football deserves more credit.
"We are not aware of what we have achieved this year and we do not value Spanish football enough. Let's get rid of our prejudices, really, almost no team can achieve this," De la Fuente told reporters.
"Also the Under-19 team, Under-21 European runners-up last year... Let's give importance to what has been achieved, this is historic, we have lived an epic story that will go down in the history of the Olympics and Spanish sport."
La Roja were losing finalists at Syndey 2000 (versus Cameroon) and Tokyo 2020 (against Brazil), but their victory in Paris sealed a remarkable year for all involved with Spanish football.
Since an iconic Spain team featuring the likes of Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique won gold on home soil at Barcelona 1992, La Roja had been reduced to the role of nearly men at the Games.
Yet that has all changed now, and coupled with their success at Euro 2024, an era of Spain dominance appears set to continue in world competition.
Henry proud of France's 'beautiful journey' at Paris Olympics
Thierry Henry praised France's "beautiful journey" at the Paris Olympics despite defeat to Spain in their gold medal match on Friday.
Henry led France to their first football medal at the Games since their triumph at the 1984 edition in Los Angeles, but will take home silver this time around.
Maghnes Akliouche and Jean-Philippe Mateta's late strikes saw Les Bleus come from 3-1 down in the final 10 minutes to send the encounter to extra-time.
However, Sergio Camello's brace broke French hearts at the Parc des Princes, with Spain continuing to assert their dominance on the international stage.
Despite the defeat, Henry lauded his players' efforts during the tournament, saying that he will remember their journey as something that united the country.
"It was magical. I told the guys that I was proud of them and that we've got a medal at the end. Sure this is not how we wanted to be but the story is amazing," said Henry.
"I think everybody enjoyed. It didn't end well but there was emotion, a medal and a beautiful journey. We are a beautiful country when we are together.
"It's beautiful to see people with jerseys, people with flags at the Olympics.
"It's difficult to celebrate this medal but we have to. There was a story, an amazing human journey."
Alexandre Lacazette, who was one of Les Bleus' three overage players at the Games, echoed the comments made by his head coach.
The 33-year-old has not played for France since 2017, but thanked Henry for giving him the opportunity to represent his country once again.
"To Henry, thank you for trusting me and make me wear the blue (French) jersey again," Lacazette said.
"I will remember the journey, the fact that I could wear the blue jersey again, the atmospheres that we had. I think all the French are proud of us after all. Even if we are disappointed.
"I don't know if this match was the most important but it's one of the most beautiful matches in terms of emotions."
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