LONDON — One day a movie will be made about the South Sudanese basketball team. The raucous crowd at the O2 arena will not soon forget the players representing the young war-torn nation put on a powerful and dramatic display on Saturday night.
Team USA escaped with a 101-100 victory to prevent a historic upset when LeBron James scored with eight seconds left. Former Charlotte Hornets forward JD Thor made a 3-pointer with 20 seconds left and South Sudan made two attempts in the final seconds, but couldn’t convert the miracle.
The Bright Stars, as they are known, will be the first team to represent the country at the Olympics when they arrive in Paris next week. They gave Team USA a thrilling and intense test.
South Sudan went up by 16 points and threatened to pull off one of the biggest upsets ever seen in international basketball before being eliminated by Team USA.
James may be interested in buying the film rights to the South Sudan story, but he was determined not to be portrayed in a losing team. James was vicious in denying the poor effort, aggressively taking over when America was in deep trouble.
He scored 25 points and went on a 23-5 run from late in the third quarter to early in the fourth. A power dunk and a 3-pointer that led to a three-point play were key. Steph Curry made two 3-pointers of his own — helping end a USA team that had missed 14 of 15 triples in that span.
Anthony Davis had another strong performance for the USA team, which has been a tour de force over the past three weeks, making a series of plays to cap a 15-point, 11-rebound performance.
South Sudan displayed its greatest collective athleticism and no fear against an American team that many South Sudanese players consider their peers. Most South Sudanese soldiers are descendants of refugees and grew up in North America or Australia.
They’re not Cinderellas so much as castoffs, and some of them might get calls from NBA teams in the coming days.
Point guard Garlick Jones was under contract with the Chicago Bulls as the 2022-2023 G-League Player of the Year, but was released as a luxury tax saving move despite being one of the best guards at last year’s World Cup in Manila. He played for Zhejiang Golden Bulls in China last season.
All he did on Saturday was put up a triple-double with 15 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, though he missed a crucial jumper with four seconds left.
Marial Shayok, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard who grew up in Ottawa, Canada, was selected in the second round in 2019 by the Philadelphia 76ers out of Iowa State and played just four career games before being released. He played several years in Turkey and averaged 19 points last season with Shandong in China.
Shayok was the best player on the floor at times in Saturday’s game, scoring 24 points and making 6 of 12 3-pointers.
Thor, a 6-10 power forward who starred at Auburn, played 165 games with the Charlotte Hornets over the past three seasons after becoming a 2021 second-round pick. The Hornets declined his option last month after he averaged 3.2 points and 2.3 rebounds in 63 games last season.
Thor had 14 points off South Sudan’s bench.
Venyan Gabriel had all sorts of former teammates on Team USA. He played with Bam Adebayo at Kentucky, with Davis and James for the Los Angeles Lakers, and briefly with Kevin Durant for the Brooklyn Nets. Gabriel has played 150 games with seven NBA teams, including just five last season on a 10-day contract with the Memphis Grizzlies.
He scored 11 points and put constant pressure on the American interior defense.
Common Maluach is the highest ranked player in the group with a huge upside of 7-2. The 18-year-old will play at Duke next year. Super agent Rich Paul was in London to see not only clients James and Davies, but also Maluvach. He had seven points and three rebounds.
Joel Embiid had his best performance for Team USA with 14 points.
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