South Sudan's men's basketball team has one of the most incredible stories of all the teams competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics, in any sport.
South Sudan is making its debut on the Olympic basketball stage just 13 years after the country gained independence from Sudan. Led by South Sudan Basketball Federation President Luol Deng and head coach Royal Ivey, the country has quickly risen to basketball prominence with a roster complete with talent.
And while the team has served as an inspiration to most, former NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas made headlines with an uninformed, problematic and xenophobic analysis of South Sudan's roster in conjunction with the team's impressive showing against Team USA in an Olympic exhibition game.
Here's more on what Arenas said and why his comments received pushback from many, including Team USA's Joel Embiid and South Sudan's Deng.
MORE: Complete roster and more to know about South Sudan's historic rise to 2024 Olympics
Gilbert Arenas' South Sudan comments, explained
After Team USA's one-point win over South Sudan in an Olympic exhibition, Arenas went on a rant about the game and Team USA's need for LeBron James' heroics to deliver a one-point win.
"We got the males — almost lost to some Africans," Arenas said in a video later posted to TikTok.
After miming as if he were shooting darts from a blowgun, Arenas continued with the offensive rant.
"The King had to save us. I know the LeBron haters are mad. We almost lost to the Ahi Ahi Tribe," Arenas continued. "This is crazy. Man, Embiid over there … throwing the game for his cousins and s—," in an attempt to link Embiid's Cameroonian heritage to the South Sudanese.
Arenas continued, referencing two sports films from the 1990s that have no connection to South Sudan.
"We ain't supposed to be losing to 'The Air Up There,' come on, man. 'Cool Runnings'? We don't supposed to lose to the Cool Runnings team. They don't even have shoes — they get their shoes from America! We gotta ship them shoes."
"The Air Up There" is a 1994 film starring Kevin Bacon as a college coach who goes to Kenya to successfully recruit a basketball player. "Cool Runnings" is a 1993 film based on the true story of Jamaica's first-ever bobsled team.
Within a one-minute segment of his rant, Arenas conflated the stories together.
"They don't even have basketball rims, dog. Manute Bol? I seen he had to walk an hour and a half to shoot a basketball. … They got baskets in the back, they shooting on f—ing peach baskets in dirt. No shoes."
In addition to being factually incorrect, Arenas' narrative played on harmful rhetoric that the South Sudanese — and Africans — are uncivilized and significantly less than Team USA in all respects.
After his comments surfaced on the internet, it did not take long for those in the know to respond to Arenas.
MORE: Meet the 17-year-old Duke commit suiting up for South Sudan at the Olympics
Luol Deng responds to Gilbert Arenas
After comments from Arenas and Hall of Famer Paul Pierce, Deng took to Instagram to use his platform for an insightful response.
Here is more from Deng:
I normally don’t pay attention to these type of comments, but as an African, a leader in my community, and the president of the South Sudan Basketball Federation, I feel it is important to respond. …
… I’m not upset or angry at these ignorant remarks made by my former colleagues; I was more disappointed to see them coming from two individuals I’ve always respected. The comments made by Paul Pierce showed misinformation and a lack of research. However, he used it as a teachable moment to shed positivity once he was informed. Thank you to Paul Pierce for apologising, that i can respect. …
… As for Gilbert’s comments, they were certainly more disrespectful and cruel. Personally, I don’t care much. I would never trade places with anyone; being African is special. However, for young African and African American kids who admire and listen to Gilbert, these comments can make you think less of yourself and make the rest of the world think less of Africans. Those who are easily misled may make comments that reflect self-hate more than pride. There is nothing about our history that we should run away from.I actually want to thank both of them for giving us this platform to respond and inform others. We’ve worked very hard in the last four years to be here, and we can’t allow mere seconds to take that away. Instead, let’s appreciate the moment and use these comments as an opportunity to educate. Being loved is always better than being tolerated.
If we as a people realized the greatness from which we came we would be less likely to disrespect ourselves.
MORE: Meet South Sudan's point guard who is taking the Olympics by storm
Joel Embiid responds to Gilbert Arenas
Embiid, who had not heard Arenas' rant at the time, offered a response based on what he did know.
"I don't condone it," Embiid said. "I'm African, first and foremost. You know, I might be playing for Team USA but I'm Cameroonian first and foremost.
"I don't know exactly what he said so I can't comment on it but if it was that negative, it's just disappointing because you see what African basketball has done for us to be in this position to be able to make some sort of impact. Even in the position that I'm in, I still have a lot of impact where I'm from and the whole continent of Africa and that's never gonna stop.
"It's really unfortunate, especially in the world we live in now. There's so much negativity."
