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essentiallysports.com 2024/10/5
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The 4-day training camp at Las Vegas took off to a flying start. Superstars across the NBA linked up on Friday ahead of their trip to Europe to grab the gold. While legends like LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant stole a lot of attention last time, Devin Booker and Joel Embiid grabbed some eyeballs at the Copa America Quarter-Finals. Except for the fact that it didn’t end well for the duo, as they triggered fans’ rage after Brazil’s loss.

The Philadelphia 76ers‘ star center isn’t a newcomer when it comes to facing the fans’ rage. Hours before Brazil’s unfortunate exit, fans went after Embiid in all directions, attacking him for ‘disloyalty’. The Cameroonian native, who has dual citizenship with the US and France since 2022, decided to play for Team USA in the Paris Olympics. This fact didn’t impress the NBA world as the fans called him a “fraud”&”disgrace”, reacting to his arrival at the national camp in Las Vegas.

Hours later, Embiid came under the scanner once again, this time with his teammate, Devin Booker. Amid the intense training supervised by Steve Kerr, the duo managed to find time to witness the Copa America quarter-final game between Uruguay and Brazil. Notably, Uruguay already turned into a villain for the US fans, as they knocked out the hosts in the group stage. Tonight wasn’t any different. Uruguayan took the legendary Brazil out of the tournament.

 

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However, the Brazilian side didn’t go down easily. The game went down the wire into a penalty shoot-out, as both sides played aggressively to keep the scorers unharmed. Nevertheless, in the penalty shoot-out, the Uruguay side held its nerve and won the game by 4-2. On the other hand, the South American side already faced a lot of criticism for leaving Neymar Jr. out of the roster, now that they are out of the tournament, fans swarmed the comments with hot takes.

Brazil fans throw flames at Joel Embiid for his “curse”

The Cameroonian baller got caught in the hands of religious soccer fans. And, he is paying the price for it. The photo of Embiid and Booker witnessing the game from the stands also included a Brazilian fan in the background, and it was enough for a fan to attack him. The fan’s comment written in Spanish, when translated, it read, “Incredible how Joel Embiid approaches a Brazilian and suddenly the team is unable to reach the semifinals. It’s Embiid’s curse.” 

It’s not just on the soccer field, Joel Embiid had to put up with these accusations on the hardwood as well. The word “curse” often gets attached to him whenever he reaches the playoffs. Yes, the playoffs haven’t been kind to the star center. Despite winning a league MVP and 5x All-NBA honor, he hasn’t reached the Finals yet. It’s quite a jinx that the star has had a tough time breaking. Another depressed fan, submerged in the game result, said “Closest Jo is getting to the Semi Finals (depressed Sixers fan)”

However, a sincere fan tried to counter the “curse” comment, writing, “Believe me it’s not embiid, that selection is full of packages” This fan blamed the roster selection that led to the failure. Importantly, it became a topic of discussion when the management left superstar Neymar Jr. out of the roster. Building on that, another fan wrote, “Ronaldinho said it the worst squad ever in Brazil 😂😂😂😂😂.” Yes, indeed, when the squad was out, he vowed to boycott Brazil games on account of sending “one of the worst teams in recent years”. 

Nevertheless, moving the attention back to the NBA stars. It wasn’t just Joel Embiid, who faced the heat, it was Devin Booker too. A fan wrote, “They relaxing while Curry and Bron and some other dudes practicing on the court. That’s why they will never win a ring.” Even though a person can’t practice 24/7, this fan seemed to have taken that out of the way to hate the players. Anyway, these two stars have the chance to redeem themselves with a gold in the next few weeks with a super-stacked team.

Before you go, do not forget to check out Shaquille O’Neal’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, to open up about the infamous Shaq-Kobe feud. Keep checking this space for more such updates.

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