Strawberries and cream. Beans on toast. British basketball players and the NBA.
Spot the peculiar combination, everybody.
It’s not common for basketball players of British nationality to reach the very top, but it has and does happen. Bizarrely, it’s not celebrated enough.
Perhaps that’s the Britishness of it all. Luol Deng is sitting comfortably in Nike flip flops and a black hat pulled low above his eyes during a break in the first day of Deng Camp, the basketball programme which has been running at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre for four years under the #DengTop50 slogan.
Back for another summer, this man is the one name that current youngsters in the UK aspire to, having already represented the Bulls, Cavaliers, Heat and Lakers, four premiere franchises.
Everyone wants to hear his story, the journey surely only he has made from South Sudan to Egypt to Brixton to Los Angeles. When he explains the method to me on this warm afternoon in late August, anyone could have guessed the secret themselves.
Hard work.
“There were times I would sit right there at that door and wait for someone to come out, then place something there to wedge it open.”
Shivers go down your spine as you come to the realisation that a British man who trained in a gym in London, struggling through accessibility the same way most players do, is all these years later back as an NBA veteran.
“It wasn’t easy to get into this gym. There was always badminton, handball, five-a-side. When the court became free I would work out until the next shift came in.
“Sometimes I sat out there for hours.” A keen swimmer, Deng could never take badminton seriously as he laughs through the reality of his past situation. With the Bulls from 2004 to 2013, Deng compiled over 10,000 points in ten seasons including an 18.8PPG average in his third campaign. He is part of NBA 2K18’s new ‘all-time rosters’ feature alongside Bulls legends Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant and others.
“People have to look at the numbers. I’ve not been outspoken about what I’ve done and because I’ve gone quiet people have forgotten what I’ve accomplished. If you look at the Bulls’ all-time scoring, rebounding, assist leaders, minutes, I’m probably top five in all of those.”
Not far off. Deng is fourth in points, fifth in minutes, ninth in rebounds and outside the top ten in assists. He is also fifth in steals, tenth in blocks and sixth in win shares. His name appears nearly as regularly as Michael Jordan’s.
Some say he was good too. Deng had a difficult time in LA last season, his first with the Lakers as they continue their rebuild. It was the first time in his career where he looked out of place in the modern NBA, although he insists during the interview that he “is a guard” despite being listed as a forward.
Spot the peculiar combination, everybody.
It’s not common for basketball players of British nationality to reach the very top, but it has and does happen. Bizarrely, it’s not celebrated enough.
Perhaps that’s the Britishness of it all. Luol Deng is sitting comfortably in Nike flip flops and a black hat pulled low above his eyes during a break in the first day of Deng Camp, the basketball programme which has been running at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre for four years under the #DengTop50 slogan.
Back for another summer, this man is the one name that current youngsters in the UK aspire to, having already represented the Bulls, Cavaliers, Heat and Lakers, four premiere franchises.
Everyone wants to hear his story, the journey surely only he has made from South Sudan to Egypt to Brixton to Los Angeles. When he explains the method to me on this warm afternoon in late August, anyone could have guessed the secret themselves. Hard work.
“Everybody thinks they’re working hard until they meet someone else who is doing double what they’re doing”, Deng says. “I learned what it takes.”Deng is a nice fellow who answers questions with an honesty unakin to the typical answer a professional athlete gives. He is part listening to the next question, more than part gesturing to the nearest door, eager to point something out.
“There were times I would sit right there at that door and wait for someone to come out, then place something there to wedge it open.”
Shivers go down your spine as you come to the realisation that a British man who trained in a gym in London, struggling through accessibility the same way most players do, is all these years later back as an NBA veteran.
“It wasn’t easy to get into this gym. There was always badminton, handball, five-a-side. When the court became free I would work out until the next shift came in.
“Sometimes I sat out there for hours.” A keen swimmer, Deng could never take badminton seriously as he laughs through the reality of his past situation. With the Bulls from 2004 to 2013, Deng compiled over 10,000 points in ten seasons including an 18.8PPG average in his third campaign. He is part of NBA 2K18’s new ‘all-time rosters’ feature alongside Bulls legends Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant and others.
“People have to look at the numbers. I’ve not been outspoken about what I’ve done and because I’ve gone quiet people have forgotten what I’ve accomplished. If you look at the Bulls’ all-time scoring, rebounding, assist leaders, minutes, I’m probably top five in all of those.”Not far off. Deng is fourth in points, fifth in minutes, ninth in rebounds and outside the top ten in assists. He is also fifth in steals, tenth in blocks and sixth in win shares. His name appears nearly as regularly as Michael Jordan’s.
Some say he was good too. Deng had a difficult time in LA last season, his first with the Lakers as they continue their rebuild. It was the first time in his career where he looked out of place in the modern NBA, although he insists during the interview that he “is a guard” despite being listed as a forward.