Luol Deng: the shining light of South Sudan's Bright Stars

Refugee turned NBA star Luol Deng has worked tirelessly throughout his career to develop basketball in his troubled homeland South Sudan as federation president, patron and sometimes coach.

And in just four years he has made South Sudan's "Bright Stars" one of the best teams in Africa, reaching a historic milestone as they compete for the first time at the Olympics in Paris.

As a player, Deng was an icon of Sudanese basketball, then South Sudanese basketball after the country's independence in July 2011.

He followed in the footsteps of the giant Manute Bol, the first southern Sudanese to play in the NBA between 1985 and 1995.

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Deng's 15-year career in the American league saw him shine in the Chicago Bulls jersey from 2004 to 2014, earning two All-Star selections in 2012 and 2013.

He also competed in the 2012 Olympics under the flag of Great Britain, where he grew up during his itinerant youth as a refugee.

After retiring in 2019, Deng thought he would take some time to "just relax" and think about what was next.

"And then came the opportunity" to lead the South Sudanese team, he told olympics.com last year.

"And with that opportunity came the vision and ideas and dreams," he said.

"I believed that we had the talent, that we are one of the best teams in Africa, that we can dominate in basketball just like how Kenya or Ethiopia dominate in track and field or like Jamaica does in sprinting."

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Now aged 39, Deng has always been active on behalf of his homeland, whether working with international organizations or his own foundation and publicly urged people to sign up to vote in the referendum on South Sudan's independence in 2011.

Despite breaking away from Sudan after more than two decades of civil war, the world's newest nation has never known peace.

It was torn apart by its own civil conflict from 2013 to 2018 and is still struggling to recover, mired in poverty and political and ethnic violence and frequently hit by climate disasters.

Originally from the city of Wau, Deng fled the war in Sudan as a child with his mother and eight brothers and sisters, for Egypt.

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It was there that he was introduced to basketball by one of his brothers, who followed training sessions given by Manute Bol during visits to the Sudanese community.

He then moved to Britain where his father, the former Sudanese minister Aldo Deng, was granted political asylum.

His basketball potential quickly took him to the United States, to Blair Academy and then to the prestigious Duke University before the NBA.

At Blair, he forged an unbreakable friendship with Royal Ivey, now coach of the South Sudanese team.

"I remember seeing Luol walk into the gym at 14 years old, with one pair of shoes and just a dream," an emotional Ivey told AFP earlier this month, tears streaming down his cheeks.

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"His service to his country, his service to his people is one of none," he said in an interview during a training session in the Rwandan capital Kigali.

"The talent is in South Sudan, but the resources aren't there. Luol has been the figurehead to push that forward, so the talent and the resources can connect and build that chemistry."

With his personal charisma, determination and also his own money, Deng is carrying out his project, which goes from building courts across the country to creating a competitive national team.

"It's not easy but it's exciting," Deng told olympics.com.

Juggling time zones, he himself called players in Australia, the United States and Asia to persuade them to join his adventure. Occasionally, he also coached the national team.

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"Luol is a symbol. Growing up we all got to watch him in the NBA... We wanted to be like Luol," said 27-year-old power forward Wenyen Gabriel.

"To see him continue trailblazing, even after he's done playing... standing tall and pouring into the federation and giving us the opportunity so we can all give back together, it's a way to follow in his footsteps," he told AFP.

"Without him, we would not be where we are right now. And we're going to continue to keep going forward."

A constant presence in the team since January 2020, captain Kuany Kuany has seen Deng's work flourish.

"One of his favourite quotes that he always says is 'Build it and they will come'. That's what's happening now."