Rwanda is hosting the regional Basketball Championships with several African teams taking part. The Executive Director of FIBA Africa Region, Alphonse Bile has praised the way former NBA renown professional All-Star player of all times, Luol Deng is dedicated to basketball in his native South Sudan with all his efforts to see the nations success in Basketball.
Luol Deng was born 16 April 1985 and is a South Sudanese-British former professional basketball player. He was a two-time NBA All–Star and was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team in 2012.
While addressing members of the FIBA Media on the eve of the opening of the FIBA AfroBasket 2021 at Kigali Arena, the former Ivorian international player and coach noted that Deng’s work is exceptionally moving in the right direction for the world’s youngest nation on the continent of Africa who are making their debut in Africa’s flagship tournament and creating an explosive excitement to the fans.
The former Ivorian international player and coach commended Deng for his efforts for his county and his undying love for the game that has greatly motivated the players.
In his address, Bille profoundly said “Personally I want to applaud what Luol Deng is doing with basketball in South Sudan, though he is starting to give basketball life from the top which, to me, is a welcome development as that will translate to younger players to show more interest in taking up the game as a career and see role models in some of the senior players.”
South Sudan qualified to this year’s African Championship after finishing second in Group D of the Qualifiers behind former African champions Nigeria and ahead of Mali.
Ever since his retirement from the NBA two years ago, Deng has played for five NBA teams in a 15 year career and has been the president of South Sudan Basketball Federation since 2019. Deng also served as the team’s head coach in the Second Round of the Qualifiers in February 2021.
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