It’s one thing for incoming Duke basketball star [autotag]Khaman Maluach[/autotag] to play basketball. It’s another thing entirely to play basketball against players like Joel Embiid and Anthony Davis.
The 7-footer faced off against some of his NBA role models on Saturday when South Sudan played (and nearly beat) Team USA during an exhibition match in London.
Maluach gained even more attention than the projected lottery pick already had, especially after he threw down a dunk in the first quarter and made a corner 3-pointer. After the game, he talked about how hard it was to process that he was playing the sport he loved against players he’d watched for years.
“It was so crazy in the beginning,” Maluach said. “Especially seeing bigs I’ve been watching since I started playing basketball like Joel Embiid, A.D. (Anthony Davis), Bam (Adebayo), matching up with them was just something like I couldn’t imagine…like, ‘Oh, I’m playing against these guys.'”
17-year-old Duke’s South Sudanese talent Khaman Maluach faced his childhood idols tonight:
“It was crazy in the beginning. I’ve been watching Joel Embiid, Anthony Davis, and Bam Adebayo since I started playing basketball. It was in my head – Oh, I’m playing against these guys”. pic.twitter.com/aw6yw7qd2k
— Cesare Milanti (@cesaremilanti) July 20, 2024
Maluach did more than just play against them, too, as mentioned earlier. He finished the game with seven points, three rebounds, and a block.