08/01/2024
you all need to know this about the one courageous man who rewrote the history of our country through basketball 🏀 to us, Africa and the world.
Luol Deng
Lots of us created countless memes about this guy, but the former NBA All-Star Luol Deng used a major part of his salary in developing the Basketball team of the youngest country in the world!
Historic moment for South Sudan TODAY! 🇸🇸
✅ First Olympic appearance
✅ First game
✅ First win!
Deng’s Lakers salary:
💵 2017: $18,000,000
💵 2018: $17,190,000
💵 2019: $14,354,067 + $2,393,887
💵 2020: $5,000,000
💵 2021: $5,000,000
💵 2022: $5,000,000
Deng’s stats:
📊 2017: 7.6 PTS | 5.3 REB | 1.3 AST
📊 2018: 2.0 PTS | 1.0 AST | 1.0 STL
📊 2019: 7.1 PTS | 3.3 REB
📊 2020: RETIRED
📊 2021: RETIRED
📊 2022: RETIRED
He only played 79 games during that span (57 for the Lakers and 22 for the Wolves). Meaning he’s earned $1,263,158 for each game he has played as a Laker.
Deng had surgery for a pectoral injury in May of 2017, but he reportedly suffered the injury before the 2016-17 season and played through it.
That sounds like a fleece, but what happened today is a testament to the fact that a player’s influence can extend beyond their playing career and beyond the NBA. It transcends borders, as Luol Deng used his salary to bring the youngest and one of the most war-torn country in the world to the biggest basketball stage!
Deng used millions of his own dollars to fund the team in the first two years as he build South Sudan’s roster with players who have ties with the country and playing in professional leagues all over the world.
While Deng is the financer and driving force behind the team, he was not alone in this dream. Joining him is his high school coach, Joe Mantegna, who turned down Deng’s offer to become the team’s head coach. Mantegna preferred to be the assistant coach and suggested Deng’s former teammate, ex-NBA player Royal Ivey, as the head coach for the South Sudan men’s basketball team.
“As happy as we are to be there, we really want to compete. I don’t want people watching us and thinking that we just go there. I want people to see us and see the direction of where I’m trying to take the sport.” - Luol Deng, South Sudan’s basketball federation president since 2019.
Just 13 years ago, South Sudan gained their independence. Today, they just won their first game in the Olympics against Puerto Rico.
Luol Deng, thank you for inspiring these players to play basketball in an elite level, representing a country that doesn’t have any single covered basketball court! Not one!
South Sudan, continue to rise! The whole world is behind you! NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE! 🇸🇸
THANK YOU, LUOL DENG! THANK YOU SOUTH SUDAN PLAYERS FOR YOUR WORLD-CLASS BASKETBALL PERFORMANCE! THE WHOLE WORLD IS SO PROUD OF YOU ALL!
