Former NBA Player Luol Deng Used His Own Finances To Fund The South Sudan Basketball Team That Just Clinched Its First Victory In The 2024 Olympics

Luol Deng investment in men’s sports has led to a first in the Olympics.

Deng was a former NBA player for the Chicago Bulls and committed 15 seasons, per Sports Illustrated, to the league before officially retiring in October 2019. Following his exit, Deng turned his attention towards his home country — the youngest country in the world — South Sudan, and became president of the South Sudanese Basketball Federation (SSBF), ESPN reports.

“I retired and I always did my basketball camps. I know a lot of players from South Sudan and I knew that we could make it something special,” he told ESPN. “I want to help the growth of the game, but I want to use basketball to change the narrative and the stories of South Sudan, but also find a way to bring communities along and for everyone to get something inspirational behind it.”

Fast forward to 2024, and South Sudan has made it to the Olympics, becoming victorious in their match against Puerto Rico on July 28, 2024. This marked the team’s first win in the Olympics, according to Bleacher Nation.

“Honestly, I didn’t think we would get here this quickly,” Deng told Sports Illustrated about the team’s presence at the Olympics. “It’s kind of insane.”

Royal Ivey, the head coach of South Sudan, credits Deng’s commitment to the team as one of the reasons for its rise in success. He revealed Deng has invested his own funds to pay for gyms, hotels, and plane tickets.

“We don’t have the pleasure of having a gymnasium, dorms, and other facilities,” Ivey told BasketNews. “We had a tough training camp in Rwanda, then traveled to Spain, moving around a lot, taking long flights, and giving up exit rows to my seven-footers. These are the things people don’t talk about. They don’t see us getting delayed for seven hours in the airport while we’re in Chad.”

He added, “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.”

Looking ahead, the South Sudan men’s team looks to clinch another victory as they gear up to play Team USA on July 31, 2024, per Yahoo Sports.

“The history is continuing to be written. This is the first debut, the first win, and the youngest team in the youngest nation—13 years independent,” Ivey expressed to BasketNews. “I keep on saying this is a great story. This is a legacy. We’re trailblazers, and we’re going to continue to ride this out, see what happens in the next couple of games, and have fun with it.”