Queen Elizabeth II of Britain awards Luol Deng for services in sports

JUBA – South Sudanese-British basketball star and head of South Sudan basketball team Luol Deng has received the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Queen’s birthday honours list for his services to the sport which was awarded to him last year.

The two-time NBA All-Star, who retired from the league after 15 seasons in 2019, arrived in London as a refugee after escaping the civil war in South Sudan with his family.

He later grew up playing for Brixton Topcats under the late Jimmy Rogers before heading to America where he would continue his development with Blair Academy followed by D1 college programme Duke until eventually being selected by the Chicago Bulls seventh overall at the 2004 NBA Draft.

Deng, who represented Great Britain at the 2012 Olympic Games, is viewed as an integral figure in the rise of British basketball; he funds an annual ‘Deng Top 50’ summer basketball camp for the most gifted players in the country and has also launched the Deng Basketball Academy as a project stemming from The Luol Deng Foundation, which is designed to combine education with sport.

“I have just received an OBE medal from the Queen and I was welcomed here at the [South Sudan] embassy to celebrate with my fellow South Sudanese citizens and I am very happy that I get the opportunity to come here and it may be felt even more proud to be South Sudan,” he said during at South Sudan embassy in London.

“I know that there is a lot being done here at the embassy, pushing to make South Sudan better,” he added.

The 36-year-old averaged 14.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 34.3 minutes per game across 902 games over 15 seasons with the Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat, Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves.

He also played in the postseason seven times – six with Chicago and one with Miami – where he averaged 15.9 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists through 62 games.

The forward, now the President of the South Sudan national basketball team, averaged double-figure scoring his first 12 seasons in the league, and he led the NBA in minutes per game in both 2011-12 (39.4) and 2012-13 (38.7), both seasons in which he was selected to be an All-Star.

He was named to the 2011-12 All-Defensive Second Team and the 2004-05 All-Rookie First Team and also won the Sportsmanship Award in 2006-07. Off the court, Deng was the recipient of the 2013-14 J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award, an honour given by the Professional Basketball Writers Association to a player, coach or athletic trainer who shows outstanding service and dedication to the community.