The South Sudan basketball team managed to shock the sports world by bringing Team USA to the verge of defeat. As a result, they have gained a remarkable amount of attention from the media. It has also been revealed that the team is nicknamed “Bright Stars.” Considering their most recent performance against Team USA, that is certainly an appropriate nickname.
Since the majority of basketball coverage is focused on the NBA or college-level basketball in the United States, countries such as South Sudan are barely given any recognition. However, things have changed drastically with their recent game against Team USA and now basketball fans want to know more about them. With that being said, let us take a closer look and find out more.
The South Sudan Basketball Team established themselves in the 2023 FIBA World Cup
It might shock some basketball fans to hear that South Sudan was established as a country just over a decade ago. They gained independence in 2011 and established a national basketball team of their own soon after. The team first started with exhibition games against other countries.
Although they did not find much success initially, South Sudan made changes to management and staff. The team displayed a greater amount of skill during the FIBA AfroBasket Tournament. They managed to make it to 16 rounds and ended up losing in the quarter-finals.
The team truly established itself and was nicknamed “Bright Stars” for their performance in the 2023 FIBA World Cup. Coached by former NBA star Royal Ivey, South Sudan had an unbeaten first round to qualify for the World Cup. There, they defeated China in order to secure a spot in the Olympics.Despite being a relatively young team with no great deal of experience, South Sudan managed to do something that fans are not expecting to see once again in the Olympics.
Sudan had a commanding lead on Team USA and could have won
Since this was just an exhibition game and not an official part of the Olympics, there were no stakes attached to winning this game. However, Team USA was clearly expected to do just that given the amount of star talent on their roster. Team South Sudan proved that they had what it takes to go toe to toe with the best players in the world and amassed a double-digit lead by halftime.
Led by elite play from LeBron James, Team USA managed to rally in the second half of the game to make a comeback. Nonetheless, South Sudan kept fighting till the very end and turned what fans expected to be a blowout loss into an extremely competitive game that Team USA could have lost. One should wonder what South Sudan and Team USA will be able to do when in the Olympics.