Precious Achiuwa takes high road after Gilbert Arenas says Joel Embiid threw Team USA game for cousins in South Sudan

NBA big man Precious Achiuwa clapped back at former Washington Wizards star Gilbert Arenas for trolling Joel Embiid and saying that he threw Team USA’s matchup against South Sudan because he has cousins from the country.

The game in question between Team USA and South Sudan on July 20 went down to the wire, but the former ended up coming out on top by a final score of 101-100. LeBron James made a game-winning layup that put Team USA up by one point with just eight seconds remaining in the contest.

Team USA finished the USA Basketball Showcase with a record of 5-0 and will kick off its stint in the Paris Olympics when it takes on Serbia on July 28.

Achiuwa, 24, is a Nigerian native who spent the bulk of the 2023-24 NBA regular season with the New York Knicks. He served as a solid backup big man across 49 games played with the Knicks, considering he averaged 7.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per contest with the team.

The Knicks acquired Achiuwa from the Toronto Raptors back in December of 2023 in a trade that also sent O.G. Anunoby to the Knicks and Immanuel Quickley to the Raptors.

Despite Achiuwa’s promising maiden season with the Knicks, it’s unclear as to whether he will be a member of the team by the time the 2024-25 campaign rolls around. After all, Achiuwa is a free agent at the moment.

But perhaps it would be in the Knicks’ best interest to re-sign Achiuwa now that Isaiah Hartenstein — who is one of the better passing big men in the NBA today — is a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Hartenstein agreed to sign a three-year deal with Oklahoma City after spending each of the last two seasons in New York.

NBA fans should expect to see even more players around the league voice their opinion on Arenas’ controversial comments regarding Embiid and South Sudan in the coming days.