Defying the Odds
South Sudan Team Proves Olympic Spirit Transcends the Games
“It’s more than just basketball”
From refugee camps to the Olympic Village. From obscurity to the world stage. From having no place for their team to practice, to winning the coveted chance to represent the entire continent of Africa in men’s Olympic basketball.
The South Sudan men’s basketball team proved that victory comes in many forms.
And to many viewers who’ve been following the 33rd Olympiad, the journey of this unlikely team embodied the Olympic spirit of struggle and triumph in ways that transcend trophies and platform ceremonies.
It’s about so much more. To the South Sudanese team that made world history this year, it’s about putting their country – the youngest nation in the world – on the map in a global arena.
“South Sudan and its people are known all over the world now,” said Aninyesi Tereza Mark, a 33 year-old university lecturer in the South Sudanese capital of Juba. “We are very proud of them and we are happy.”
While none of the players live in South Sudan currently, all of their roots hail back to the country that just gained its independence in 2011, and has since been marred by a history of conflict and challenges from poverty to droughts to famine. Many of their parents fled the country either before or after its civil war, and are familiar with life in refugee camps.
South Sudan President, Salva Kiir, shared in the nation’s collective pride over their Olympic basketball team, raving in a post on X: “Your impressive performance has inspired many open-minded people across the globe to get to know that South Sudan as a country has more to offer the world.”
Former NBA player, Luol Deng, became president of the South Sudan Basketball Federation in 2019. No stranger to turmoil, his family fled to Egypt during South Sudan’s lengthy and bloody battle for independence. Later they moved to Britain. Deng eventually went on to a successful NBA career.
The South Sudanese basketball franchise has struggled to exist throughout the years, in a war-torn country that has only a single outdoor court made of dirt, with one rim higher than the other, and no official 10-foot regulation goals.
In 2021, Royal Ivey, then the assistant coach for the Brooklyn Nets, contacted Deng about working together. He said he was excited about the idea of South Sudanese players putting their differences aside and giving its young men the opportunity to nurture their talent.
“We are blazing a new path for the nation,” Ivey said, who became head coach for the team. “Through sports you can bring a country together, heal, give hope and inspire.” South Sudan is home to more than 64 different tribes and ethnic groups, some with a long history of hostility and conflict.
But many team members expressed feeling a unity through shared past experiences, like living as migrants, enduring financial hardships, language barriers, discrimination and isolation. Many also confided their common aspirations to make it to the NBA.
There was no red carpet route to the Olympics for team South Sudan. Not dissimilar to life in their country, it was a rocky path ridden with training on sweltering outdoor concrete courts, flooded fields, and working around power outages when they traveled all the way to Rwanda to locate the nearest practice gym – some 500 miles away. Overcoming hardship is endemic to the nation’s people.
Ivey mused, “I’ve never been a part of something where you have to travel to a different country just to have some resources. This whole thing has been humbling.”
No one thought they would make it this far.
But in 2023 the ragtag team hit their big break by defeating Angola at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in the Philippines. They had just qualified for the Olympics.
Naysayers didn’t take the African team seriously, and some even said they weren’t tall enough to be able to win.
Team members admitted they struggled with different styles of play when new players were added. They were a diverse group, with a common hope of making a name for their homeland, and giving their beleaguered country a moment of national pride.
And that they did. After their stunning showing in the exhibition match against the USA, where South Sudan lost by just one point while going shoulder to shoulder with NBA players the likes of LeBron James and Stephen Curry, people started to take notice.
The team went on to make Olympic history for their nation by registering their first ever win in the Olympics in a matchup against Puerto Rico, achieving a decisive 90-79 victory.
“It means a lot, just to be here,” said forward Majok Deng. “It was a surreal moment and emotional in a way, too, because to raise your flag at that stage means everything. And that’s what we’re fighting for.”
Which is what made it all the more difficult emotionally when the team suffered a 96-85 loss in a highly respectable performance against Serbia – a team ranked fourth in the world – that eliminated South Sudan from the tournament, ending their 2024 Olympic run.
Despite questioning some of the officiating, the team shared embraces with their Serbian opponents from whom “they’d earned total respect,” wrote one news outlet.
“Hats off to them,” said Serbian star Bogdan Bogdanovic. “What Luol Deng has done for their federation is amazing.”
Bogdanovic was referring to the former Duke star who played 16 seasons in the NBA before presiding over South Sudan’s basketball federation. Deng used millions of his personal funds to finance the team and invest in a future of basketball for South Sudan.
Deng also took a moment to appreciate how much the team had accomplished on international basketball’s biggest stage.
“I’m proud of my guys. I’m proud of the federation. I’m proud of South Sudan. I’m proud of our fans. I’m proud of the continent,” Deng said. “We thank everybody that’s been able to help us out. This was a group effort.”
Team member Marial Shayok believes what they accomplished over the past week will resonate with a generation of young players who’d never seen South Sudan basketball on this level.
“It’s just the beginning of a bright future. And it’s just an amazing feeling,” Shayok said. “I hope it inspires…South Sudanese kids all over the world.”
While none of the team members currently play for the NBA, some play in leagues for countries that include Australia, Canada, China and Serbia. All eyes are on seventeen year-old Khaman Maluach, a 7 foot 2 inch player who is considered to be a rising star, and will debut as an incoming freshman at Duke this year.
As the ceremonies draw to a close shortly and team South Sudan goes their separate ways to pursue their futures, they will share the lasting bond of their 2024 Olympic experience, being the team who rose from obscurity to etch its place in Olympic history.
Point guard Carlik Jones, who achieved a triple-double in the US exhibition game and scored 19 points in the matchup with Puerto Rico, described his experience in words that captured the soul and spirit of the intrepid South Sudanese team. “I am here not just to be a basketball player, but also to be a brother. It’s more than just basketball.”
Referenced articles:
https://apnews.com/article/2024-olympics-south-sudan-basketball-073a8651367f8d4a6eab158a5a171530
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/30/world/africa/olympics-basketball-south-sudan.html