Shernobi Basketball Academy training in Munuki neighborhood, July 20, 2024, Juba, South Sudan. FLORENCE MIETTAUX
Will they recreate the surprise? Three days after their victorious entry into the competition against Puerto Rico (90-79), the South Sudanese men’s basketball team is playing its second match of the Olympic tournament, Wednesday July 31, against the United States (9 p.m.). During their last confrontation, eleven days earlier in preparation, the youngest team in the world – the South Sudanese National Basketball Federation has only existed since 2013 – narrowly avoided tripping up the orange ball ogre. Facing an overexcited South Sudanese, star LeBron James only snatched victory at the last minute (101-100).
Read the analysis | South Sudan, the new flagship of African basketball
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The performance of the Nile Giants has ignited fans at home and across Africa. And has increased the motivation of young South Sudanese who, since their team qualified for the Olympic Games (Olympics) in the summer of 2023, have been flocking to basketball academies in Juba. The Bright Stars are shining and making people talk about them. Former NBA star Paul Pierce, who had mocked the team before it faced the United States, apologized profusely: ” I didn’t realize that Luol Deng or Manute Bol were from South Sudan”he said, acknowledging his « ignorance »Both former players of the major North American league, these pioneers paved the way for a new generation of players and embody the country’s potential in basketball, illustrated by the success of the Bright Stars.
Wenyen Gabriel, during the preliminary round of group C between South Sudan and Puerto Rico during the Olympic Games, at the Pierre-Mauroy stadium in Villeneuve-d’Ascq, on July 28, 2024. – / AFP
Having gained independence in 2011 after decades of war against the regime in Khartoum, the capital, South Sudan remains more famous for its persistent conflicts and humanitarian crisis than for its sporting talent. At the head of the Federation since he put away his professional football shoes (in 2019), Luol Deng never ceases to hammer it home: ” For us, it’s more than basketball, We want to change the narrative about South Sudan. » The national team breakthrough can help the former Chicago Bulls winger achieve that.
Read the report | Juba, former enemy capital, has become a refuge for thousands of Sudanese fleeing the war
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“They are 2.15 meters tall and herd cows”
For the moment, it is difficult to recruit basketball players who have stayed in the country, and the Bright Stars are made up of players from the diaspora. We don’t have any indoor basketball courts in our country”recalled winger Wenyen Gabriel after the match against the United States. “We can only represent (our country) at this level because of the opportunities, the structures that we have had access to, me having grown up in the United States, many others in Australia, some in Canada. […]continued the former NBA player. But a lot of people back home are just like us. There are big kids in South Sudan who have no opportunities. They’re 6’3″ and they herd cows.”
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2024-07-31 15:00:12
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