"He pays for everything": Former Laker Luol Deng's unyielding support highlighted by South Sudan basketball team's coach
South Sudan's basketball team has been the toast of the town in Paris to start the Olympics, winning their first Olympic basketball game in the country's first Olympic Games.
South Sudan's basketball team stunned a talented Puerto Rico team in a 90-79 upset on Sunday, led by a 19-point effort from Carlik Jones and 15 points from Marial Shayok.
The head coach of South Sudan, Royal Ivey, praised former NBA star Luol Deng, who has been credited with funding the entirety of South Sudan's basketball program out of pocket.
"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," Ivey stated about Luol Deng.
Deng is just one of 11 players in NBA history from South Sudan - and arguably the best. Deng played 15 years in the NBA for the Bulls, Heat, Cavaliers, Lakers and Timberwolves, making two All-Star appearances and an NBA All-Defensive team in 2012.
The forward averaged 14.8 points, 2.3 assists and 6.1 rebounds, shooting 45% from the field and 33% from behind the arc. At his peak, Deng was one of the best defenders in the NBA and anchored a Bulls team that was one of the best squads in the Eastern Conference from 2010-2013 alongside Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah.
South Sudan's basketball team to face off against Team USA
In their second Olympic contest, South Sudan's basketball team will look to upset Team USA, who they almost beat during the Olympic exhibition matchups in a 101-100 thriller.
The game put South Sudan on the map, putting the rest of the Olympic teams on notice in a historic effort.
Meanwhile, Team USA also won their opening Olympic contest, defeating Serbia 110-84 thanks to 44 combined points from LeBron James and Kevin Durant. James shot 9-13 from the field, finishing with 21 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. Durant played just 17 minutes, but finished 8-9 from the field and 5-5 from behind the arc in a historic scoring streak off the bench.
South Sudan will enter the game as underdogs, but as they showed in the exhibition matchups versus Team USA, anything could happen in the Olympics.