By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
MANILA, Philippines – The 2nd of September will always be a day to remember for South Sudan, as the African national team managed to get to the Olympic Games for the first time ever in the nation’s history. All of this, however, wouldn’t have been possible without Luol Deng.
The former Chicago Bulls player, since being named President of the Basketball Federation in South Sudan, gave his all for his country and expressed his gratitude in a press conference after the historic win against Angola. “I’ve been doing basketball camps since I got to the NBA in 2004-05. Ever since I did camps, in Australia, in the US, and all over Africa every summer, I’ve never skipped a summer in which I did camps. While doing that, I did a lot of camps with South Sudanese kids. For me, I kind of knew before I even retired there was a lot of talent, a lot of South Sudanese kids there. Just like myself, I’ve represented another country, and they ended up playing for other countries”, he first said.
“Throughout my career, even though I represented Great Britain, and I’m thankful for that, at the time our country was going through a lot. I did everything that I could to build this basketball program. While I was there, it was always in the back of my mind what would be to play for South Sudan I never had the opportunity to play for South Sudan, and I never had the opportunity to do so. When I retired, it was a lot easier to put it together, because I was familiar with it. It wasn’t just a random thing. It was a lot of players who represented us in different windows that were in my camps since we created them. I’ve been involved with the communities, for this to come together I had a team with me I was familiar with, how we did it, and what we wanted to do”, he went on saying.
This goal was always there for Luol Deng. “I’m very proud. When I became the president of the Federation, I told everyone that my goal first was to get out of zone five, and then make it to AfroBasket, to the FIBA World Cup, and to the Olympics. So far we’ve been able to achieve all of that. For me, it’s a special day. It’s something that I knew was possible for us to do, and I knew it took a lot of work”, he stated.
“Credit goes to everybody: my team, the president of South Sudan for believing in what we’re doing, and the people of South Sudan for supporting us. Not just from our country, but all over the world. All the fans that see what we’re doing and appreciate it. There are a lot of people out there who are supporting South Sudan because it’s an unbelievable underdog story. Not just for South Sudanese and for Africa, but generally for the rest of the world. It’s a come-up story, it’s a feel-good story that people can relate to. It’s such a unique achievement because it’s beyond basketball. What we really want is for everyone to hear us, and to kinda know our story”, Luol Deng added.
“But also to know that there is a young nation that is going in the right direction. We want people to know us in a positive image, and change the narrative. And basketball is allowing us to do that, even as I sit here. I know there are a lot of people who are learning about South Sudan today, and when we get to the Olympics, we’ll be able to raise our flag for the first time ever and represent our country. Individuals from South Sudan have always represented other countries or the refugee flag. But this is the beginning of South Sudan: our introduction to the world”, the former NBA player commented on a new dawn for African sports.
One of the protagonists of this 2023 FIBA World Cup campaign has surely been the head coach Royal Ivey, Luol Deng’s friend for a long time. “I wanna talk about Royal. I get a bit emotional when I talk about it. When I first went to the US for high school, Royal was a senior. When I went there, I had no basketball shoes. Royal was the first one to give me his shoes. We remained friends, and every holiday I couldn’t afford to get back to my family, so I was there at Royal’s house. I always had that in the back of my mind, and my coach has always been there for me”, he said about South Sudan’s national team coach.
“Throughout my journey, I learned that not every gift is just about what you buy for somebody. When you know somebody, you know the best you can give them. I knew that Royal and Coach Mantegna by being a part of this, because of who they are, were not gonna worry about anything else besides giving their best. And now they’re part of history. Royal is a hell of a coach, and I couldn’t see any other coach that could have brought us here. His personality, his basketball IQ, but also the fact that all these players can relate to him, and he can get the best out of them. I knew he had to be the guy, and I didn’t have to ask him twice to do it. When you have somebody like that who’s doing it because he understands it’s more than basketball, it’s really easy to follow his lean on the court. How he sees them and how we should play. He brought together the perfect strategy for our team, and that’s what we will continue to build on”, he added about his coaching staff.
Now, South Sudan will play in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, making a statement for the whole African continent. “I think we’re gonna take this opportunity and represent Africa to the fullest and to the best of our ability going forward. I’ve seen it and a lot of people have seen it: if you invest in the youth in Africa and you invest in your people, giving them the best opportunity to succeed, we have a lot of talent and we can really be up there with the rest of the world. When you get the opportunity, I think that it doesn’t take a genius to see that every time an African player makes it, they have to go to Europe or come to the US at a young age. Most of this it’s not because of the talent, it’s because of the lack of facilities, and also improving wherever it is you need to focus on. I hope that this sets the example to show the rest of Africa that if you really invest and put the right surroundings around our youth, it will change the direction”, the President of the South Sudan Basketball Federation added.
“For me, I keep saying this is more than basketball. That’s time for all these kids, instead of being in the streets, instead of thinking of all the struggles they’ve going through, to actually be proud of where they’re from, and believe they can also represent their country. Have something different to talk about, something positive. We need to start looking at sports and other things like that. Investing in things that take youth to spend their time in the right way. When you have things like sports, art, music, or whatever, and you’re investing in it, kids will find time to spend it on something else. A lot of time, those are positive things”, Luol Deng continued stating.
🔥 For the first time EVER, the South Sudan National Men’s Team qualified for the Olympics 2024!
Paris, we’re on the way! #WinForSouthSudan 🇸🇸 pic.twitter.com/f6PhfyPkoB
— South Sudan Basketball (@SSBFed) September 2, 2023
The 38-year-old made a promise to the world. “This is not the last time we’re gonna be in the Olympics, and I’m not talking only about basketball. This is just basketball because I was blessed and I had the opportunity to be able to invest in what I’ve invested, but then it was picked up by the support from home. If we look at other sports, that we can succeed in and invest in, we will be represented for many years. For other athletes or Africans from other parts of the world who are inspired, I always say being retired and finding something that I loved to do and being around, it came from the heart. We inspired a lot of people, I hope a lot of athletes go back. We spend a lot of time playing these sports, so if you can go back and get back all you have learned throughout those years, that’s the way to do it”, he added.
This was surely a long journey, but what a journey for South Sudan. “I really believed that we could do it, which makes it even so much better. I really believed we could get out of zone five. Then I really believed we could go to AfroBasket. Then I believed we could get to the World Cup, and now we’re here. I believed we could make it to the Olympics, and I think credit to just all the players. We’ve had a lot of players taking us to the next level, and the team keeps getting better because the competition is hard”, he said.
“The players here, obviously, got us to the World Cup, but every player from day one, every member of the coaching staff that’s been a part of this, they had a lot to do. I can’t ask for anything more. You have your ups and downs, but overall what we did here is pretty amazing.n How we did it, with how big are our offices and our staff. Nobody was paid, in the coaching staff or the players. It’s pretty amazing and it’s a story that doesn’t happen often. It’s something that needs to be said more. We’re just a bunch of individuals who really believe in our vision and have a big heart. We wanted to make it happen, and we did”, Luol Deng praised his team once more.
“I really believe you have to work with passionate individuals, who believe in the same goal. For me, everyone that we’ve been working together, I just now that in our office and in our coaching staff, everyone really believed in this. And everyone knew why we were doing it. It wasn’t just “I wanna hang around, I wanna be there”. It was different, it was having the nerves and the courage to stand up for what’s wrong and what’s not right. I think, over the years, our staff and our team we become closer. We started to understand and love each other”, he went on saying.
Been counted out my whole life. This is one of the most emotional days of my life! Mama we’re going to the Olympics! 😭😭
— Uno (@nuniomot21) September 2, 2023
“Anything before basketball, we’ve been very blessed to have a bunch of players who are great people. They wanted to make history, and nothing matters: it’s never about their numbers. For me, I’ve watched a lot of national teams over the years, and the best are those who play with a lot of passion. It doesn’t matter who does what as long as you get a win. Watching teams like Italy, Serbia, and Australia, it’s not an accident to be one of the best countries in basketball for a long time. That passion, we have it. What’s left is just consistency and organization. We’re really blessed for the bunch of players who are passionate about their country”, Deng continued talking about his players’ personalities and attitudes.
Talking about what’s their goal for the Olympic Games, he kept the expectation high. “It’s crazy because we have a really good team. We’re gonna go there and try to win every game we play. That’s our main goal. I’m getting emotional as I say it, but I really wanted to see our flag. I did it with Great Britain, I walked down on the first opening ceremony, where we raised the flag as we marched. For me, as much as I loved that, this moment was going to be everything. After that, we play basketball and we see how it goes. But just to be able to be in a conversation to represent that flag in the opening ceremony, when it happens it will be even major”, he said.
“I really believe that since we started, in Kenya, in zone five, there have been a few moments that kind of changed the course of our people, in terms of excitement, being proud, coming together as South Sudanese, having a different topic to talk about. With that being all said, seeing what’s going on at home, seeing the fans, the support that we’re getting. Everything stops to permit everybody to watch on the big screen. I can tell you guys from the beginning what we went through, all the positives, the negatives, and also the people that believed in us”, he added.
Finally, he wanted to shout out all the talents who are there, unexplored. “We’re gonna celebrate this and enjoy, the impact that has been making for the youth, and the fact that hopefully now you can invest more in the youth. I’m talking about sports in general, music: we have so much talent, and so much time has been wasted. You just need to believe and invest in there. That should be the conversation. The Olympics are great and I’m happy, but the conversation should be about what are we doing now with other sports and other platforms. They need to be supported also”, he commented, talking to his people back in Africa.
PHOTO CREDIT: 2023 FIBA World Cup
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