Every four years, the Olympics do a brilliant job of showcasing the best talent in the world. But amid that showcase, the event sometimes introduces the fans to some of the most inspiring underdog stories. One such story that has caught everyone’s attention in Paris is that of South Sudan’s men’s national basketball team. And the man behind it all? President of the South Sudanese Basketball Federation, Luol Deng.

But Deng’s inspirational basketball journey began long before he took the leadership role in his home country. Let’s dive in.

Luol Deng’s early life and family

While South Sudan was amid the Second Sudanese Civil War, Luol was born on April 16, 1985, in Wau, joining a family of eight siblings. In the hope of getting away from the hostile environment, Luol’s father escaped the country with his entire family when Luol was just three.

Upon leaving the motherland, they made a refugee camp in Egypt their temporary home. “My parents were my greatest role models. What we went through, how they were always positive. They never lost their edge or showed frustration with anything,” Luol said in an interview, revealing how his parents never let their hardships affect his childhood. “My mom is very religious and we always just always believed it was going to get better,” he added.

It was at the refugee camp where Luol met the person who would help pave his bright future, NBA legend and fellow countryman Manute Bol. With a will to uplift his community, Bol took out time from his busy schedule to visit them and introduced Luol and his family to the game of basketball. “I can honestly say that Manute Bol taught my family the game of basketball.”

After Manute left, it was Luol’s oldest brother Deng Deng who took the responsibility of teaching the game upon himself. Sure enough, Luol was hooked.

As the situation got better, the Deng family moved to London to start a new life. It was there when a 14-year-old Luol caught a basketball scout’s attention and was offered a scholarship to join an academy in the USA.

Luol Deng’s basketball career and net worth

Sure enough, Luol took the leap of faith and hopped on a flight to America. And the risk paid off! Impressing everyone with his skills, he bagged an offer from Duke University and went on to play for the Blue Devils during the 2003-04 season. There, he averaged 15.1 points along with nearly seven rebounds to help Duke reach the Final Four of the NCAA tournament. As expected, the league came calling.

After much hype, he was drafted by the Phoenix Suns as the seventh pick but was immediately dealt to the Chicago Bulls. During the ten years he spent in Chicago, Luol averaged a solid 16.1 points and made the All-Star team twice and the All-Defensive Second Team one time.

Entering the later stages of his career, he had multiple stops playing for the Cavs, Heat, Lakers and finally ending his legendary career in Minnesota. Over the course of his fifteen-year NBA career, Deng earned well over $166 million in salary.

Moreover, the Bulls legend has increased his net worth even more post-retirement, surpassing the $200 million mark. And that’s because of his smart real estate investments. More importantly, Deng has used a major chunk of his money for the betterment of South Sudan basketball.

Basketball facilities in South Sudan

As the youngest nation, South Sudan is still trying to find its footing. And they have taken a giant step toward it this year by doing wonders in the Paris Olympics. Initially coming to light after their impressive performance against Team USA in the London showcase games where they nearly pulled off the biggest upset in USA basketball history, South Sudan created history by winning their first-ever game on the world stage by defeating Puerto Rico 90-79.

Although an impressive accomplishment in itself, it becomes even more impressive when you find out that the team has no indoor training facility or no NBA caliber gym to practice like their world-class opponents.

A situation so bad that the team had to fly to Rwanda for their first training camp a few years ago. “Just imagine being on an 18 or 19-hour flight just to get to training camp and then get to training camp and have 25 guys on one court,” South Sudan’s HC Royal Ivey said, revealing that the team adjusted their big men on exit rows and waited through seven-hour flight delays just to make ends meet.

And in such a situation, Luol Deng has emerged as the savior for the team as Ivey revealed that the Bulls legend has been funding most of the team’s expenses from his own pockets for the last few years. Taking inspiration from Manute Bol, who kept his busy NBA schedule aside just to help the community when Luol was a kid, Deng aspires to do the same for the future generation of South Sudan.

And hopefully, his efforts won’t be in vain and South Sudan will have world-class facilities by the time the next Olympics arrive.

Before you go, do not forget to check out this crossover between BG12 and Georgia Bulldogs star Silas Demary Jr.