Tag: South Sudan

Duke basketball freshman Khaman Maluach talks about his Olympic experience

Khaman Maluach talked about the Olympics on The Brotherhood Podcast on Tuesday after the 17-year-old represented South Sudan in Paris.

One member of the Duke basketball team joined up with the rest of the Blue Devils in Paris a little later than everyone else, but freshman [autotag]Khaman Maluach[/autotag] had a pretty good excuse for his delayed arrival.

Maluach represented South Sudan at the Olympic Games in France this summer, and at just 17 years old, he was the youngest basketball player in the competition. He talked about the experience during a Tuesday episode of The Brotherhood Podcast, including one game against Team USA that pitted him against the best players in the world.

“I didn’t really realize that during the game until the game was finished and I was like, wow, I just played against LeBron James,” Maluach told sophomore teammate Caleb Foster. “Embiid, A.D. (Anthony Davis), the guys I always looked up to, those are the bigs I watched, so me playing against them, being on the same floor motivated me more.”

He and his countrymen picked up South Sudan’s first Olympic win in history during pool play, beating Puerto Rico, but losses to the United States and Serbia kept them from the quarterfinals.

Maluach said that, while sharing the court with NBA superstars was surreal, he got the full Olympic experience once he was eliminated from the competition.

“That’s when I really got to see other sports like beach volleyball and just tour around Paris with my team,” Maluach said.

Maluach, who stands 7-foot-2, is a projected lottery pick in the 2025 NBA draft and many think he’ll be one of the best rim protectors in college basketball from his first game.

Jayson Tatum, Team USA dispatch Khaman Maluach and South Sudan at the Olympics

In a battle of Duke basketball stars past and future, Jayson Tatum and Team USA battled past Khaman Maluach and South Sudan on Wednesday.

In a battle of Duke basketball stars, the elder statesman got the better of the incoming freshman on Wednesday.

[autotag]Jayson Tatum[/autotag] and Team USA dispatched [autotag]Khaman Maluach[/autotag] and South Sudan in the second game of Olympic men’s basketball group play, winning 103-86.

Tatum, the third overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft, is already making a strong case as the best men’s basketball player in Duke history at 26 years old. He won his first NBA title with the Boston Celtics earlier this summer, and a victory in Paris would give him his second Olympic gold medal.

After Tatum notably didn’t play in Team USA’s opening victory over Serbia, he finished with four points, five rebounds, and two assists on Wednesday.

While South Sudan didn’t get the better of the Americans on Wednesday, Maluach and his teammates recorded the country’s first win in Olympic history when they beat Puerto Rico in the opening game.

Maluach, one of four five-star signees in Duke’s 2024 recruiting class, didn’t score any points for his country on Wednesday after he tallied two points and two rebounds in the first game.

Tatum and Team USA locked up a place in the quarterfinals with the second group stage victory while Maluach and South Sudan will play Serbia on Saturday for second place in Group C. The top two teams from all three groups clinch a spot in the final eight with two other spots available for the top remaining teams.

Khaman Maluach, South Sudan win first Olympic basketball game over Puerto Rico

Khaman Maluach and South Sudan erased a six-point halftime deficit for a resounding victory over Puerto Rico, the country’s first Olympic win.

South Sudan has finally won an Olympic basketball game.

[autotag]Khaman Maluach[/autotag] and his countrymen erased a six-point halftime deficit against Puerto Rico on Sunday for a 90-79 victory, the first South Sudan victory in Olympic basketball history.

Puerto Rico built an eight-point lead in the first quarter alone and led 54-48 at the midway point, but South Sudan held them to 25 points over the final two quarters.

Maluach, an incoming Duke basketball freshman and one of four five-star signees in the 2024 recruiting class, played just six minutes. He scored two points and grabbed two rebounds in his limited time. Carlik Jones led the team with 19 points, and South Sudan outrebounded Puerto Rico 55-37.

The victory represents the start of group play in the men’s basketball competition. South Sudan and Puerto Rico sit in Group C alongside the United States and Serbia, who play each other later on Sunday. Each country plays the other three once with the top two teams in each group guaranteed to advance into the quarterfinals. One more victory should virtually assure South Sudan’s spot in the final eight.

Maluach’s new teammates in Durham surely rooted him on this morning, and a handful of them included South Sudan in their podium predictions.

Duke basketball players voice support for Khaman Maluach in Olympic predictions

The Duke basketball team gave their Olympic podium predictions on Sunday with a lot of love for Khaman Maluach and jokes for Tyrese Proctor.

The Duke basketball team gave their predictions for the Olympic podium on Saturday, and the Blue Devils resoundingly think Team USA will walk away with yet another gold medal.

The Blue Devils social media team asked every player currently in Durham for their top three, and all but one of them said the United States would win gold.

The lone holdout? [autotag]Tyrese Proctor[/autotag], who of course picked his home country of Australia.

A couple of his American teammates tried to get a rise out of Proctor with the segment as well. [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] and Mason Gillis both went out of their way to say Australia wouldn’t medal. Flagg clarified he was only messing with his point guard, but Gillis simply smiled.

The only Blue Devil not with the team right now, incoming freshman [autotag]Khaman Maluach[/autotag], will play for South Sudan in Paris. Many of his teammates decided to support him with their predictions. Gillis, Maliq Brown, and Cameron Sheffield all gave their silver medals to South Sudan.

Check out the full predictions below.

Social media reacts to USA squeaking by South Sudan: ‘Americans coming back to Twitter after a struggle win’

Team USA rallied back from a 16-point deficit to escape against South Sudan in a 101-100 nail-biter. LeBron James led the comeback in the second half. Obviously, whenever USA basketball loses or is in close games against opponents, the Internet goes …

Team USA rallied back from a 16-point deficit to escape against South Sudan in a 101-100 nail-biter. LeBron James led the comeback in the second half.

Obviously, whenever USA basketball loses or is in close games against opponents, the Internet goes crazy. Check out some of the immediate reactions after the game.

Khaman Maluach gets the better of former NBA MVP Joel Embiid during Team USA exhibition

Khaman Maluach made a handful of impressive plays against Team USA during a Saturday exhibition, but his best came against a former MVP.

Khaman Maluach gained a brief grasp over the basketball world on Saturday afternoon when he and South Sudan nearly upset Team USA.

He put together some impressive highlights, a running dunk in the first quarter and a corner 3-pointer later on, but the biggest feather in his cap came during a quieter basket.

Midway through the second quarter, as South Sudan built a comfortable lead over the United States, Maluach got the ball with former NBA MVP Joel Embiid on him defensively. The future Blue Devil feinted to his right, a jab step to give him some space from Embiid, before burying a long mid-range shot over the Philadelphia 76ers star.

There’s a solid argument to make that Embiid, who took home the prestigious MVP honor just two seasons ago, is the best player on the American team. For a player like Maluach, a presumed 2025 lottery pick viewed as a project, to make a basket over such a professional star feels like a statement about his current ability.

Maluach also mentioned Embiid, along with Anthony Davis and Bam Adebayo, as players he’s watched since he started playing basketball.

Khaman Maluach talks about playing against his NBA idols during Team USA exhibition

Khaman Maluach, a future Duke Blue Devil, played against some all-time NBA forwards on Saturday, and the fact was not lost on him.

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.'”

Maluach did more than just play against them, too, as mentioned earlier. He finished the game with seven points, three rebounds, and a block.

Incoming Duke basketball 7-footer Khaman Maluach makes 3-pointer against Team USA

Khaman Maluach gets praise for the defense and shot-blocking he’s expected to show at Duke, but the 7-footer showed off his jumper on Saturday.

Following in the footsteps of his future teammate [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag], incoming Duke freshman [autotag]Khaman Maluach[/autotag] made a great impression against Team USA this summer.

During a 101-100 exhibition loss to the United States on Saturday, coming a late LeBron James basket away from the upset, Maluach nailed a corner 3-pointer to show off his complete talent.

The South Sudanese 7-footer gets lottery hype for the 2025 NBA draft thanks to his defensive ability, and he did block a shot and come away with three rebounds for the exhibition game.

He’s shown flashes of his perimeter shooting in Basketball Africa League games, however. If the lanky forward can be even a competent outside threat alongside Flagg next season, the Blue Devils add an extra level of fear for opponents. He’s considered the second-best NBA prospect on the Duke roster for 2024-25, quite an accomplishment when you consider he’ll be playing with three other five-star freshmen and two impressive returning guards.

Check out where Bleacher Report put Maluach, Flagg, and two other Blue Devils in the latest 2025 NBA mock draft here.

Khaman Maluach, South Sudan basketball come within a point of beating Team USA

Khaman Maluach, the incoming Duke freshman and presumed 2025 lottery pick, nearly helped South Sudan upset Team USA in a Saturday exhibition.

[autotag]Khaman Maluach[/autotag] and South Sudan nearly pulled off the upset of the summer during a Saturday exhibition game against Team USA.

During a friendly match in London ahead of the upcoming Olympic Games, the United States needed to pull out a miraculous 101-100 victory over the South Sudan national team.

Maluach, a member of Duke’s hyped 2024 recruiting class and a presumed lottery pick in next year’s NBA draft, scored seven points in 12 minutes off of the bench. He made three of his four attempts from the floor, pulled down three rebounds, blocked a shot, and even made a 3-pointer to tease his shot-making ceiling.

The future Blue Devil made an impression as early as he could with a breakaway dunk in the opening quarter.

The U.S. actually trailed in the final half-minute of the game before four-time NBA champion LeBron James drove his way to the basket for the go-ahead layup during the final 10 seconds.

Despite Maluach making an appearance during the exhibition and playing for South Sudan in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup, he’s not listed on the official men’s national team roster online, implying that he won’t make the trip to Paris for the Olympic Games.

Duke basketball’s Khaman Maluach throws down dunk against Team USA in exhibition

Khaman Maluach, one of four incoming five-star freshmen in Duke’s recruiting class, threw down a breakaway dunk against Team USA on Saturday.

[autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] isn’t the only incoming Duke freshman with a standout performance against Team USA.

After Flagg gained national adoration for his performance as a Select Team member during the United States Olympic training camp, future teammate [autotag]Khaman Maluach[/autotag] made some headlines of his own during a Saturday exhibition against the American team.

While playing for his home country of South Sudan, Maluach’s teammates passed him the ball with open paint in front of him during the first quarter. The 7-footer snagged the ball, made it from the free-throw line to the hoop in two steps, and threw down a dunk to give his team the 18-16 lead.

Saturday isn’t Maluach’s first experience on the national team. While he isn’t listed on the national team roster for the upcoming Olympics, he did represent South Sudan at the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup. He’s routinely considered Duke’s second-best NBA prospect for 2025 thanks to his frame and shot-blocking ability, and Bleacher Report included him in a mock draft earlier this week.

Maluach and Flagg highlight a six-person freshman class for Duke’s 2024-25 roster.