Paris 2024 Olympics: South Sudan seeks to change global perceptions ahead of clash with Team USA

The story of South Sudan's men's basketball team at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 would be considered unbelievable if it wasn’t real, a Disney-like type journey that would likely cause viewers to believe things like that never happen.

Indeed these types of miracles do happen. A neophyte country with little resources for a basketball program and with the help of a countryman who reached the highest basketball level and now wanting to give back to improve conditions and transform his homeland into a power.

This has indeed happened, and South Sudan has ascended all the way to the Olympic stage, winning their first-ever game Saturday (27 July) against Puerto Rico and now facing the most established and accomplished program in Olympic history in the United States. A team with several future Hall of Famers and perhaps the greatest player of all time in LeBron James.

South Sudan identity moulded by Luol Deng

That South Sudan personality is reflective of its coach, former NBA player and longtime assistant coach Royal Ivey, who asked team director Luol Deng for the head coaching job when Deng was in search of a leader. Ivey, 42, has taken this team from the abyss. With no indoor basketball facilities in South Sudan, Ivey took 25 guys to nearby Rwanda for its first training camp four years ago.

“Just imagine being on an 18- or 19-hour flight just to get to training camp and then get to training camp and have 25 guys on one court,” he said. “We don’t have the pleasure of having a gymnasium and a down. We have to practice in Rwanda and that was a tough training camp and travel to Spain and moving around on long flights, giving up the exit rows to my 7-footers. That’s the grind people don’t talk about. They don’t see that, getting delayed for seven hours in the airport while we’re in Chad. They don’t see things like that.”

With Deng funding the program from his own pockets, South Sudan began recruiting players who had family connections to the country but were forced to play for other nations because there was no program. Its first international impact came in AfroBasket 2021 when it finished seventh out of 16 countries.

Two years later, when Ivey and Deng acquired more talent to upgrade the roster, South Sudan finished 17th in the FIBA World Cup, qualifying for Paris 2024 as the highest-finishing African country. South Sudan is a team filled with former NCAA players, some who have played in the NBA or overseas. JT Thor is in the Charlotte Hornets’ system. Marial Shayok played briefly with the Philadelphia 76ers and averaged nearly 20 points per game last year in the NBA G-League. Wenyen Gabriel played 68 games for the Los Angeles Lakers two years ago.

Khaman Maluach is South Sudan’s best-ever prospect. The 17-year-old has committed to Duke next season.

“It’s the pride for their country. South Sudan, SUD means the land of the black,” Ivey said. “These guys wanted to play. They wanted to hear their anthem. They messed up on the anthem (Saturday) but they got it correct. We all make mistakes. These guys are brothers. It’s a band of brothers. It’s a togetherness. They play cards together. They play dominoes together. We eat together. It’s communal. Guys love each other. When guys are doing wrong, we hold guys accountable. That’s what a real team is. And that’s what real family is. That’s what family looks like, South Sudan.”

Saturday was a monumental moment in not only the basketball history but the overall history of the country that was granted independence in 2011. The world watched South Sudan on the biggest athletic stage and it delivered with a victory over Puerto Rico in the Group C opener. The significance was not lost on the players, who have essentially had to practice in foreign lands and in subpar facilities to turn this vision into a reality.

“It’s unbelievable,” Shayok said. “It’s nothing like I’ve ever experienced. This is the Olympics, the biggest stage in the world. To see our fans here, to see our support, it was unbelievable. It’s an amazing feeling that we could represent our country in a positive light. It hasn’t always been a positive narrative coming out of our country. We’re a new country, a new team and just to paint this narrative, it’s been special to be a part of.”

It’s far more than just about basketball, although South Sudan has a legitimate shot of reaching the Knockout round with a win in its final two games. According to the United Nations, half of South Sudan’s 10.9 million population is under 18 years old. So this run is truly motivating the youth.

“It means a lot and just to be there, it was a surreal moment,” forward Majok Deng said. “You get emotional in a way too. To raise your flag on that stage means everything and that’s what we’re fighting for. Before the World Cup, nobody knew where South Sudan was. Obviously we did a great job in the World Cup to qualify for the Olympics. We always surprise them but this is the biggest stage in the world. To be able to raise the flag, for the world to see our flag, what it looks like and for them to know where South Sudan is on the map, that’s all we can fight for.”

Ivey’s enthusiasm is contagious and his passion is one of the primary reasons why South Sudan is here, at this moment, playing the world’s best on the grandest stage with a continent behind them.

“Africa loves us,” he said. “They support us. They’re rolling with us. This guy Luol has been funding this thing for four years out of his own pocket. Just think about it, paying for gyms, paying for hotels, paying for plane tickets. That’s all him. Kudos to Luol.

“My life is a movie right now. Being in the Olympics, getting our first win. I’m proud of my players. Everybody contributed. This is so surreal; I couldn’t experience anything better than this. I’m so thankful for the opportunity.”

Gary Washburn is an Olympic Channel correspondent and National NBA Writer for the Boston Globe.