Former NBA stars called out for 'ignorant remarks' about South Sudan

Former NBA All-Stars Paul Pierce and Gilbert Arenas made some derogatory remarks about the South Sudanese basketball team last week.

Ahead of Team USA's exhibition affair against South Sudan, Pierce poked fun at the African team and laughingly said, "They probably don't have anybody over 6'3". How did they get in [to the Olympics]?" He also confused Slovenia for Lithuania and came across as a little ignorant.

As for Arenas, he was more snide with his remarks. After Team USA needed a buzzer-beater from LeBron James to escape with a 101-100 win, Arenas suggested that Joel Embiid, a Cameroonian native, tanked the game for "his cousins" and even mocked South Sudan's socioeconomic conditions.

Former NBA All-Star Luol Deng has blasted Pierce and Arenas for making "ignorant remarks" about his birthplace and the team representing it at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

After addressing both their comments, Deng thanked his former colleagues for allowing him to educate them and others about the history of South Sudan.

"I actually want to thank both of them for giving us this platform to respond and inform others," Deng wrote. "We've worked very hard in the last four years to be here, and we can't allow mere seconds to take that away. Instead, let's appreciate the moment and use these comments as an opportunity to educate. Being loved is always better than being tolerated."

Pierce apologized to the people of South Sudan earlier this week on FS1's "Undisputed," something Deng acknowledged in his statement. Arenas has yet to address Deng's scathing comments.

South Sudan, the world's youngest nation, became a sovereign country in July 2011 after it declared independence from Sudan. Deng was born in Wau, a region that became part of South Sudan. Since his retirement from the NBA in 2019, the former Bulls star has spent countless hours, and millions of his own funds, to grow the game of basketball in his home nation. A dual citizen of Britain, Deng was conferred Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2021 for his services to basketball.