{"id":42901,"date":"2023-09-01T15:02:12","date_gmt":"2023-09-01T15:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/bigger-than-basketball-south-sudan-win-hearts-minds-at-world-cup"},"modified":"2023-09-01T15:08:05","modified_gmt":"2023-09-01T15:08:05","slug":"bigger-than-basketball-south-sudan-win-hearts-minds-at-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/bigger-than-basketball-south-sudan-win-hearts-minds-at-world-cup","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Bigger than basketball\u2019: South Sudan win hearts, minds at World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Sudan. <\/strong><\/span>South Sudan has lurched from one crisis to another since winning independence in 2011, but the country\u2019s basketball team are determined to \u201cchange the narrative\u201d on the world stage.<\/p>\n

South Sudan are competing at the Basketball World Cup, currently taking place in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia, and have won plaudits for their dynamic play and positive attitude on and off the court.<\/p>\n

Playing in the tournament for the first time, they pulled off a historic win when they beat basketball-obsessed China 89-69 in their second game.<\/p>\n

Their hopes of reaching the second round ended after a defeat to Serbia on Wednesday, but they still have the chance to claim a qualifying spot at next year\u2019s Paris Olympics.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re literally one, that\u2019s what this basketball team stands for \u2014 for unity, a pathway for peace and development in the country, and just a way to change the narrative,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor us, that\u2019s why it\u2019s so much more, so much bigger than basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team are a mix of players with South Sudanese heritage and those born in the country.<\/p>\n

Forward Nuni Omot was born in a refugee camp in Kenya, where his parents spent three years after travelling more than 400 miles to flee civil war in Ethiopia.<\/p>\n

Two of the squad play in the United States, while the others are scattered around the world playing in leagues in Australia, Denmark, Taiwan, France, Belarus and Senegal.<\/p>\n

American-born head coach Royal Ivey is an assistant for the Houston Rockets in the NBA.<\/p>\n

The impetus for the team came from Luol Deng, a former NBA player who was born in Sudan and raised in London after his father, a former Sudanese government minister and political prisoner, was granted asylum by the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n

Deng spent 15 years in the NBA before becoming president of South Sudan\u2019s basketball federation after he retired.<\/p>\n

\u2013 National unity \u2013<\/p>\n

The team played their first official international game only six years ago, but Kuany says they have captured the South Sudanese public\u2019s imagination, with crowds gathering to watch their team on giant screens in the capital Juba.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason why this is so important and means a lot is because we have so much division, a lot of trouble and a lot of conflict going on in our country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhenever the basketball team plays, it\u2019s literally the only time that everybody comes together.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no more tribes \u2014 \u2018I\u2019m from so-and-so region\u2019 \u2014 everyone is wearing the same flag and that\u2019s South Sudan.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team\u2019s first-round results mean they are out of title contention but they can still grab a spot at the Paris Olympics if they finish as the tournament\u2019s highest-placed African team.<\/p>\n

That would be a remarkable achievement for a team whose only previous international tournament was the 2021 African championships.<\/p>\n

Guard Sunday Dech, who was born in Ethiopia and moved to Australia as a child, believes the team is only just getting started.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not satisfied, we want to keep going and it\u2019s going to be piece by piece,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll come back stronger and better for tomorrow\u2019s game and the next game after that and the tournament after that too.\u201d<\/p>\n

South Sudan play co-hosts the Philippines in their first game in the classification round on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Regardless of the result, Ivey says they are already winning the battle for hearts and minds.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey come together, they unite, and through basketball we share the vision of camaraderie, friendship, love, sportsmanship, togetherness,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what my players emulate every day when they step out on that court.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Sudan<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Sudan. South Sudan has lurched from one crisis to another since winning independence in 2011, but the country\u2019s basketball team are determined to \u201cchange the narrative\u201d on the world stage. South Sudan are competing at the Basketball World Cup, currently taking place in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia, and have won plaudits for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":42899,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[234,265,233],"class_list":["post-42901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-sudan","tag-south-sudan"],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018Bigger than basketball\u2019: South Sudan win hearts, minds at World Cup - South Sudan<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"South Sudan has lurched from one crisis to another since winning independence in 2011, but the country\u2019s basketball team ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/bigger-than-basketball-south-sudan-win-hearts-minds-at-world-cup\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Bigger than basketball\u2019: South Sudan win hearts, minds at World Cup\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"South Sudan has lurched from one crisis to another since winning independence in 2011, but the country\u2019s basketball team ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/bigger-than-basketball-south-sudan-win-hearts-minds-at-world-cup\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Sudan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-09-01T15:02:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-09-01T15:08:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/sites\/32\/2023\/09\/sm_1693568216.612585.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"511\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/bigger-than-basketball-south-sudan-win-hearts-minds-at-world-cup#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/bigger-than-basketball-south-sudan-win-hearts-minds-at-world-cup\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"\u2018Bigger than basketball\u2019: South Sudan win hearts, minds at World Cup\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-01T15:02:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-01T15:08:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/bigger-than-basketball-south-sudan-win-hearts-minds-at-world-cup\"},\"wordCount\":630,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/bigger-than-basketball-south-sudan-win-hearts-minds-at-world-cup#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/sites\/32\/2023\/09\/sm_1693568216.612585.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-South-Sudan\",\"South-Sudan\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/bigger-than-basketball-south-sudan-win-hearts-minds-at-world-cup#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/bigger-than-basketball-south-sudan-win-hearts-minds-at-world-cup\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/bigger-than-basketball-south-sudan-win-hearts-minds-at-world-cup\",\"name\":\"\u2018Bigger than basketball\u2019: South Sudan win hearts, minds at World Cup - 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