Some were born in the United States, others in Canada, Australia and various parts of the world. None of them did it by choice and they agree on one aspect: their parents are from South Sudana region from which they escaped as victims of the war and social conflicts that plague the youngest nation in the world, after its independence in 2011. Today, as an act of destiny, they are in charge of transmitting joy to a people of almost 11 million of inhabitants that is among the poorest in the world.
Among so many darknesses that are presented to the inhabitants of the country located in East Africa, the South Sudan basketball team are the miracle workers that the nation trusts to continue writing history at the Pierre-Mauroy headquarters in Lille. The first chapter has already been written: They beat Puerto Rico 90-79 in his debut for the Paris Olympic Games and they performed one of the greatest sporting feats in their short history.
“This is like a movie. My life is cinema right now“, confessed the coach Royal Ivey, NBA player for a decade. Although the feature film did not start on the track. The story began when stepping into the Olympic Village, a place where the vast majority of athletes enjoy amenities similar to those they enjoyed during much of their careers. The opposite was true for the boys from South Sudan, who learned what it was like to train together on indoor courts for the first time as a team.
He GDP of only 417 dollars that presents the nation, the seventh poorest in the world, is a faithful reflection of the conditions in which the national basketball team trained on its way to Paris. “We did not have the privilege of having a gym, dormitory and other facilities. In our first training sessions We trained outside, with eagles flying above our heads. There was water on the court, it was not flat, it was extremely hot. Then we traveled to Spain, we moved a lot, we traveled long distances and we had to leave the emergency exits to the centers,” the coach revealed after making history.
South Sudan managed to be represented by 14 athletes in Paris 2024. Two of them belong to athletics: Abraham Guem in 800 meters men and Lucia Moris in women’s 100 meters. The remaining 12 make up the national basketball team, which had already caused a surprise at the international level in its first participation in a World Cup, when Last year he won three of his five games played and there he got the ticket to Paris.
Most of the players were born in the United States, but are classified as “a group of refugees” that “meets a few times a year in a country without covered fields.” However, each one understands that said territory wounded by war marks, in which the United Nations (UN) still extends peace missions to The protection of civilians is the reason that drives them to go out into the field.
South Sudan achieved independence from Sudan in 2011, a neighboring territory with which they entered into conflict in 1982, but which has not yet completely ceased due to political, economic and religious issues (the south is Christian, while the north practices Islam). The social issue causes more than half of the population to live below the poverty line, with the vast majority working in the rural sector and suffering daily. A civil war that took place between 2013 and 2018 left 400,000 dead and thousands of refugees.
With their greatest efforts, they try to find a way to take their first steps as a nation. Precisely, one of them was to join the FIBA (International Basketball Federation) and bring together those players who feel identified with their ancestry. They were not wrong. This is how they managed to convince major NBA athletes, such as Carlik Jones (Chicago Bulls), who excelled against Puerto Rico with 19 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists, and becomes the cornerstone that makes South Sudan dream of having a greater presence on the sports map.
Carlik Jones, the figure that South Sudan trusts to continue making history in Paris. Photo: FIBA.The name to whom basketball in the African nation owes much of its gradual growth is Luol Deng, former Chicago Bulls player, refugee in Egypt for a long time and president of the Federation since 2019. Out of love for his roots, despite having represented Great Britain, he decided to take care of all the necessary financing costs. He even coached the team, prior to the arrival of Ivey, with whom he finished forming the Paris 2024 revelation team.
But within the epic that they forged in their debut, in the run-up to the game against Puerto Rico, the organization implicitly encouraged to the South Sudanese. It’s that he committed a error when playing the anthem of Sudan, an enemy region, when the teams leave the court. Although the melody was stopped after a few seconds, the boos from the handful of fans who were present in the stadium were inevitable. Then they would show, in their own way, their excitement for the victory outside the venue.
In the midst of joyous moods, South Sudan’s next stop will be none other than the Dream Team from the United Statescon LeBron James in the lead, for second place in group C. Although they have no reason to give up: in the preparatory friendlies heading to Paris, The African team was on the verge of beating the Americans, reaching a difference of 16 points in their favor. However, the Lakers star woke up at the end and it was enough for him to take a tight 101-100 victory.
Regardless of the result, the 12 representatives are sure of one thing: in Juba, capital of South Sudan, they await their arrival to be received as the heroes who gave one of the greatest joys in their short 13 years of history. An Olympic wonder
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