REMEMBER Luol Deng?
Deng, known for his 10-year career with the Chicago Bulls, is now the president of the basketball federation of South Sudan, which on Monday captured a very first win in the Fiba Basketball World Cup, 89-69, at the expense of China.
Holding the position since 2019, Deng is largely acknowledged as the man behind the rise of South Sudan basketball, one of the feel good stories of the World Cup. After reaching the quarterfinals in their first-ever Afrobasket in 2021 with a team that Deng coached, South Sudan went 11-1 in the qualifiers to earn a trip to Manila.
READ: This South Sudan teen is projected to be top pick in 2025 NBA draft
“Luol Deng is the heart and soul of this,” said South Sudan coach Royal Ivey, who is also an assistant coach with the Houston Rockets. “Without Luol, I won’t be sitting here right now. He had a great vision. I trusted in his vision. We all came together. I’m in awe that I’m sitting here right now at the World Cup.”
“I got out of my comfort zone and decided it was time for me to step up in the hot seat. And now, I’m here. I’m thankful for Luol. I’m indebted to Luol for giving me the opportunity to coach this team. I’m so humbled and thankful. Thank you Luol,” said Ivey, a high school teammate of Deng.
South Sudan’s win was fuelled by the 21-point effort of American-South Sudanese cager Carlik Jones, who won the NBA G League MVP last season and is headed to Deng’s former team Chicago Bulls next season.
Also with South Sudan is Khaman Maluach, who at 16 is the youngest player in the World Cup. Standing 7-foot-2, Maluach is seen as one of the top prospects in the 2025 NBA Rookie Draft.
Deng, who also played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat, Los Angeles Lakers, and Minnesota Timberwolves, deflected the credit for South Sudan Basketball's phenomenal rise, saying it was a collective effort on their part.
“It’s coming together. It’s something that a lot of us, as a federation, we worked very hard for. I understand being the president of the federation, I get a lot of feedback and my name is going around. But honestly, I think as a federation, I feel like we have the right people around in order for all of it to happen,” said Deng, 38.
“As long as you surround yourself with the right people, the right coaching staff, the right players, you are going to do great things. And for us, this is what we have. And it’s coming together. As we are learning, we continue to get better,” said Deng.
After the historic feat, Deng’s team is now in the fight for a place in the 2024 Olympics. Only one African team will go to Paris, and at the moment, Ivory Coast and Angola also have one victory in their sleeve.
If South Sudan fails to advance past the group stage, it may end up playing co-host Gilas Pilipinas in the classification phase.
“It was a big game today,” said Deng. “We understand how it works. This game is big for us. But even the outcome of the next game, we put ourselves in a position where we still continue. But we will take it one game at a time.
"Like what I said, in the first game, we didn’t get the result that we wanted. We move forward. Today, we got the result but we have to move forward.”
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