The South Sudanese Basketball Team Luol Deng Self-Funded Just Won Big In The Olympics – Essence
Luol Deng is making his home country of South Sudan at the Olympics, but not in the way you’d think.
The former NBA player retired from the league in 2019, so he won’t be on the Olympic courts, but the South Sudanese basketball team he self-funded is, and they’re giving him a big return on his investment.
While playing against Puerto Rico, the South Sudanese team clenched a big victory over them on July 28, marking their first win in the Olympics.
“Honestly, I didn’t think we would get here this quickly,” Deng told Sports Illustrated about the team qualifying for the Olympics. “It’s kind of insane.”
After playing for the Chicago Bulls 15 seasons, Deng dedicated his time to philanthropic efforts to his home country, including becoming president of the South Sudanese Basketball Federation (SSBF).
“I retired and I always did my basketball camps. I know a lot of players from South Sudan and I knew that we could make it something special,” he told ESPN in a past interview. “I want to help the growth of the game, but I want to use basketball to change the narrative and the stories of South Sudan, but also find a way to bring communities along and for everyone to get something inspirational behind it.”
Royal Ivey, the head coach of South Sudan, spoke to the critical role Deng played in getting the team to the Paris Olympics, including paying for lodging, flights and gyms.
“We don’t have the pleasure of having a gymnasium, dorms, and other facilities,” Ivey told BasketNews. “We had a tough training camp in Rwanda, then traveled to Spain, moving around a lot, taking long flights, and giving up exit rows to my seven-footers. These are the things people don’t talk about. They don’t see us getting delayed for seven hours in the airport while we’re in Chad. Luol Deng has been funding this thing for four years out of his own pocket. He pays for gyms, hotels, plane tickets—everything. Kudos to Luol and the staff. We wouldn’t have been able to put this team together without them.”
