Former Miami Heat small forward Luol Deng had a dream to bring Olympic basketball to his native South Sudan,

South Sudan did not have a team due to a lack of talent and money. The small country could not afford to support the expense of having a national team,

Enter Deng,

Deng played in the Olympics for Great Britain because South Sudan had no team. He wanted to change that, He did so by using some of the money he made in the NBA to help build the team.

“Luol Deng has been funding South Sudan’s national basketball program out of his pocket for four years,” said South Sudan coach Royal Ivey. “He pays for gyms, hotels, plane tickets – everything. Kudos to Luol and the staff. We wouldn’t be able to put this team together without them.”

Deng also serves as the president of the South Sudanese Olympic team.

During the telecast of the United States-Serbia game, Deng’s former Heat teammate Dwyane Wade gave him a shout out. Wade is providing color commentary for NBC during the Olympics,

Wade mentioned how proud he was of Deng for what he accomplished in South Sudan.

The team lost to the U.S. in an exhibition game 101-100 after leading at halftime. South Sudan had a chance to win the game on the final possession, but the missed. It would have been the most stunning upset in U.S. Olympic basketball history.

Scott Salomon is a contributor to Miami Heat On SI. He can be reached at sas@southfloridamedianetwork.com.

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