By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
South Sudan was on the verge of a big win against Team USA in a prep game for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
They were playing great basketball against some of the biggest basketball stars in the world, but LeBron James gave the US side a victory in the final moments.
However, the African country that is about to debut in the Olympic basketball tournament can be proud of everything they showed against a team stacked with NBA aces.
“I’m happy we were able to represent our country. A lot of people around the world don’t know what South Sudan was, but today we were able to represent our country with pride, put up a good fight, and show them the potential of our country. It was a proud moment for a lot of people. Obviously, we wanted to win, we played really well and I’m really proud of my teammates, the heart we showed, the dedication, and trying to put respect on our name, and to get our country respected,” said Wenyen Gabriel after representing South Sudan in their first-ever clash against the USA.
Gabriel, a former NBA player who recently joined Maccabi Tel Aviv, spoke of the importance of being able to represent his country at this level.
“We don’t have any indoor basketball courts in our country. We are a bunch of refugees that come together for a few weeks out of the year, trying our best, playing against some of the best players ever. This is bigger than basketball for us. To show people that we can compete and understand that hoops in Africa are something for the future. It’s only a matter of time before the next generation gets built up. There’s a billion people in the country that’s no different than any one of us. We were able to represent us and get to this level, based on these opportunities. Being able to have different facilities, me growing up in the States, a lot of us in Australia, some in Canada…”
He hopes that the success of South Sudanese basketball could bring the whole country together.
“There are some tall kids back in the village, I remember I came back home to South Sudan to visit them, and they didn’t have any opportunities. Seven feet tall and they’re herding cows. Some people around the world don’t have the opportunity to play basketball for a living, to go shoot hoops, to go fish for food, do different things to survive. Today was an example and something to bring us together. We’ve been a war-torn country, been through a lot, every single year a lot of bloodshed. For us to have something to have together, to stop looking at each other differently. It’s a small country, 11 million people, but today we were able to be united as one. We hope we can continue doing different things in the future, to be united, to keep building our country, so we can all be proud saying that we are from South Sudan,” Gabriel concluded his powerful speech.