The youngest country is in fashion to encourage a population subscribed to suffering thanks to basketball. South Sudan, Born just 12 years ago after gaining independence from Sudan after two long and harsh wars (1955-1972 and 1983-2005) and suffering a last civil war between 2013 and 2020, it is one of the most fascinating stories of this world. And it is that after his first participation in the World Cup, his wonderful and inspiring journey will continue next year in the Paris Olympics finishing as the best African team after their victory against Angola. It is the first place in any sport that the country has achieved in a Games.
An exciting journey with a marked NBA footprint in its past, an already promising present and an exciting future. The roots, with legendary overtones, go back to the figure of Manute Bol, born in the country the biggest giant ever seen in the NBA with his 2.31 with the eccentricity of being the only one in history to end his career registering more blocks than points -2,086 compared to 1,599 -. The presence in the best league in the world of the closest thing to Victor Wembanyamayour son Was Was -now in the Phoenix Suns-, revives the memory of Manute even more, a decade in the NBA between 1985 and 1995 with the Washington Bullets, Warriors, Sixers and Heat.
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Born in the capital of Sudan in 1999, Bol Bol had to leave the country at the age of two with his father, admitted as a religious refugee in USA in 2002 accused by the government of Sudan of giving support to the rebels of South Sudan, the new country for which Manute went bankrupt to give life, reversing the almost 6 millions that he won in the NBA to alleviate the suffering of a war from which everyone has consequences in a team full of refugees or children of refugees who had to emigrate to United States, Canada or Australia.
Bol did not see his country become independent when he died of liver problems, but other myths have taken over to continue his legacy and rebuild the country through basketball. Luol Deng, A two-time All-Star, the former Bulls, Cavaliers, Heat, Lakers and Timberwolves player instigated South Sudan’s basketball revolution by taking over the program and oozing with emotion:
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“It is an incredible story. It is a story of an ‘underdog’ not only for South Sudan, not only for Africa, but for the rest of the world. It’s a heartwarming story that most people can relate to. Is a unique achievement because it goes beyond basketball,” Deng said in statements collected in an ESPN report.
All the steps of the African team have an NBA seal. Also the bench with Royal Ivey in front, now an assistant for the Houston Rockets after having also been an assistant for the Thunder, Knicks and Nets, the former player for the Hawks, Bucks, Sixers and also Oklahoma, who has had to deal with endless unforeseen events in the birth of the Sudan team del Sur, coming to train on flooded outdoor tracks.
“It’s an incredible story for the world, a heartwarming story, a unique achievement”
Luol DengEx All-Star and Head of the South Sudan Basketball Program
In the squad, the present and the greater media attention capitalizes on them Dear Gabriel, now a free agent and with a respectable NBA career with his time in the Kings, Blazers, Pelicans, Nets, Clippers and Lakers but without exception in having a life story with a dramatic accent, born in Sudan but having to emigrate to Egypt to two weeks after being born.
The future is largely monopolized by the youngest player in this World Cup at 16 years old, Khaman Maluach, third youngest in all history after the Ivorian Georges Lath and the Chinese Gao Ailun by just months apart. Projected for the 2025 draft, and following the tradition of Bol and Gabriel centers with their 2.16, Maluach was living as a refugee in Uganda until the NBA discovered him to incorporate him into its youth program in Senegal. “It’s been like a movie” warned inside.
Jeff Chiu / AP
But the game and the future is also for the little ones with Carlik Jones and his definitive disclosure to send a very direct message to the Chicago Bulls. The small but endowed point guard of 1.83, MVP of the G-League last season with the Bulls affiliate, the Windy City Bullshe recorded 35 points in his debut against Puerto Rico and a spectacular double-double of 26 points and 15 assists against Angola for a championship average also double-double with 20.4 points, 10.4 basket passes and 4.8 rebounds.
With only 12 NBA games played at the age of 25 between Denver, Dallas and Chicago, with whom he has a non-guaranteed two-year contract, Jones is crying out for a place in the best league in the world, for which they also passed Marial Shayok (Sixers) and the former UCAM Kacoul Jok (Suns), who was left without her father, a general in the Sudan Liberation Army, and her grandfather during the conflicts. Many harsh stories that have led to a fantasy that she falls in love with and that will continue next summer in the city of love.
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2023-09-03 04:34:30
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