South Sudan Humble Lebron and Team USA

Last September, as the celebration picked up steam inside a cramped South Sudanese locker room in Araneta Coliseum in Manila, Luol Deng paused to reflect on surrealness of it all. How Deng, a 15-season NBA veteran, had come to spend the last four years in a new role: president of the South Sudan Basketball Federation. How South Sudan, which won its independence in 2011, had even fielded a national team. How the country—his country, the world’s youngest country—had punched its ticket to the Olympics. “Honestly, I didn’t think we would get here this quickly,” says Deng. “It’s kind of insane.”

Here, or rather, there, is Paris, where South Sudan, after knocking off Angola to clinch its berth as the highest-finishing African team at the FIBA World Cup, will compete this summer. In 2019, Deng, still settling into retirement, got a call from his brother, Deng Deng. The government needs someone to run the basketball program. Would you be interested? Luol was born in what was then known as Sudan in 1985. When he was 5, with the country in the throes of a civil war, he and his family moved to Egypt, where he learned basketball from another Sudanese refugee, Manute Bol, who then in the midst of a 13-year NBA career. Five years later, Deng landed in London, then the U.S., where he developed into an elite high school prospect.

In 2012, Deng represented Great Britain in the Olympics—but only because South Sudan, which gained independence from Sudan a year earlier, had no team. “I’m very grateful for everything Great Britain provided,” says Deng. “But if South Sudan had a team, I would have been on it.”

No facilities. No funding. “I had to pay myself,” says Deng. The country wasn’t against the idea of a national basketball team as much as it was indifferent to it—understandable given the situation.

Deng’s vision was simple. African basketball is divided into zones. Perform well in your zone, you compete in AfroBasket, a continent-wide tournament, and you are entered into the FIBA World Cup Africa Qualifiers. Perform well there and the world’s youngest nation would be off to Paris.

Recruiting was next. There is a talent pool of players with South Sudan ties. Many, like Deng, possessed dual citizenship. The challenge, says Deng, was to get players to forego opportunities to play for more established national teams and commit to his fledgling one. “Every player was different,” says Deng. “There were some who right away wanted to be a part of it. There were some that took a little bit of convincing and a little bit of back and forth.” Deng was convincing. Wenyen Gabriel, a five-year NBA veteran, signed on. Carlik Jones, who played parts of two seasons with three NBA teams, joined too. Majok Deng, Luol’s cousin, is on the roster. “I convinced them that this is what our plan is and this is what we’re trying to do,” says Deng. “And they committed to it.”

In 2020, South Sudan competed in an African qualifying tournament in Cameroon. When the team arrived, four players—and Deng—tested positive for COVID-19, forcing them out of the tournament. South Sudan went 1–1, losing a spot in the AfroBasket qualifier to Cape Verde. Says Deng, “Our dreams were shattered.”

Not long after, Deng’s phone rang. It was a FIBA official. Algeria, one of the teams in AfroBasket, was withdrawing, citing COVID-related issues. “They weren’t allowed outside the country,” says Deng. Could South Sudan throw together a team? “It was a no-brainer,” says Deng. After scrambling to assemble all the available players in less than a month, South Sudan entered the qualifier … and kept on playing well enough to reach the World Cup. There it earned its Olympic bid with a 23-point win over 11-time African champion Angola to become the lowest-ranked team to qualify for an Olympics since 2004.

South Sudan beat Angola for a spot in the 2024 Olympics

When he signed on to run the federation, Deng effectively bankrolled it. The team’s recent run has gotten the money flowing. MTN, Africa’s largest mobile network operator, signed on as a sponsor. Peak Sports, a Chinese clothing company, offered a merchandise deal. Deng organized the exhibition game against the U.S. team. “We have an opportunity to really change the narrative of South Sudan,” says Deng, “but also to have a community that’s beyond basketball.” Indeed, the team has brought the war-torn country together. “There’s two occasions that people have celebrated in South Sudan,” says Deng. “One was our Independence Day. And the other was when we qualified for the Olympics and came back home.”

Team USA continues its preparation for a run at a fifth straight gold medal in men’s basketball ahead of the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

The star studded US Men’s Basketball team to the 2024 Olympics Photo: USAB

South Sudan fell in a 101-100 thriller in London to the team that should in all respects be unbeatable. LeBron James’ layup with eight seconds left sealed the game in which Team USA was down by 14 points at halftime. Carlik Jones had a triple-double for South Sudan (15 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists) in an electric performance, missing a jumper with four seconds left that would have clinched an upset.

South Sudan truly became the sweetheart of international basketball losing the game to the best of the best of the NBA by only 1 point and giving the perceived Olympic team to beat, a run for their money, winning the hearts of basketball fans the world over in the process of gaining the visibility that Deng had hoped for when organizing the exhibition.

South Sudan show the world what they’re made of after they go down 101-100 to the US Men’s 2024 basketball team

With the world’s youngest country able to humble giants in this way without the existence of any indoor courts in South Sudan yet, one can only imagine what is about to happen to the country after Deng and his team have brought eyes to the potential available within their country and opening the flood gates to potential scouting opportunities for future generations. While humbling Team USA, they may have also shot their country into its new future and garnered the support of the world to take the Olympics gold from the giants.

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