Following South Sudan’s narrow 101-100 loss to the US men’s basketball team in a pre-Olympic warm-up match on Saturday, the basketball world has been abuzz, with many people taking to social media to praise the African Nation for their resilient performance.
Despite the African nation having minimal resources, they managed to push a star-studded American team featuring superstars such as LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Derrick White, all the way to the limit.
Speaking after the game on Saturday, Sudanese player Wenyen Gabriel said the game was much bigger than Basketball.
“We don't have any indoor basketball courts in our country. We don't have anything like that. We're a bunch of refugees that came together for a few weeks out of the year, this is much bigger than basketball for us," former NBA player Gabriel told Eurohoops TV.
After the closely contested encounter, people took to X — formerly known as Twitter — to praise the “Bright Stars”.
X user @NykTerry commended South Sudan for their performance and added that he loved seeing the game of basketball grow around the world.
“THERE ARE NO INDOOR BASKETBALL COURTS IN SOUTH SUDAN. None. Luol Deng is building one this year props to them man. Hell of an effort. Love seeing [basketball] grow globally”
THERE ARE NO INDOOR BASKETBALL COURTS IN SOUTH SUDAN. None.
Luol Deng is building one this year props to them man 👏
Hell of an effort.
Love seeing 🏀 grow globally pic.twitter.com/szjv86UAIy
Another X user @modernemeid, reflected on the huge strides South Sudan has made in the game of Basketball in recent years.
“14 years ago, my country didn’t exist. Now we are playing the United States in basketball. #SouthSudan🇸🇸.”
14 years ago, my country didn’t exist. Now we are playing the United States in basketball. #SouthSudan🇸![CDATA[]]>🇸 pic.twitter.com/SUSVnDE36K
@Dmaron21 said he loved seeing South Sudan putting up a fight against some of the best players in the world.
“As an American, I absolutely love that South Sudan is giving it to Team USA like this. Even if they end up losing, it’s awesome seeing basketball grow like this that a bunch of ‘no names’ are playing this well against the NBAs best,” he said.
As an American, I absolutely love that South Sudan is giving it to Team USA like this. Even if they end up losing, it’s awesome seeing basketball grow like this that a bunch of “no names” are playing this well against the NBAs best. https://t.co/3hXWV8vB5U
South Sudan managed to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics after they finished as the highest African-placed nation at the FIBA World Cup back in 2023.
IOL Sport