LONDON — There probably will be a movie made about the South Sudan basketball team someday. And the players representing the war-torn young nation added a powerful and dramatic scene Saturday night in a moment the raucous crowd at O2 Arena won’t soon forget.
LeBron James made a driving layup with eight seconds left to prevent what would have been a historic upset, and Team USA escaped with a 101-100 victory. Former Charlotte Hornets forward JT Thor had made a 3-pointer with 20 seconds remaining and South Sudan had two attempts in the final seconds but couldn’t convert the miracle.
The Bright Stars, as they are known, will be the first team to represent the country in the Olympics when they arrive in Paris next week. And they gave Team USA a thrilling and serious test.
South Sudan got up by as many as 16 points and threatened to pull off one of the biggest upsets ever seen in international basketball before Team USA pulled it out.
James might be interested in buying the movie rights to the South Sudan story, but he was determined not to be portrayed on the losing team. James was vicious in denying the upset attempt, aggressively taking over when the U.S. was in serious trouble.
He scored 25 points and made a string of tremendous plays in a 23-5 run from late in the third quarter to early in the fourth. A power dunk that led to a three-point play and a 3-pointer were crucial. Steph Curry made two 3-pointers of his own — helping end a stretch of Team USA missing 14 of 15 triples that contributed to the deficit — in that span.
Then Anthony Davis, who had yet another strong game for the American team in what has been a tour de force over the past three weeks, made a series of plays to finish off a 15-point, 11-rebound performance.
South Sudan showed off its tremendous collective athleticism and no fear against an American team that many South Sudanese players consider their peers. Most of the South Sudanese players are the descendents of refugees and grew up in North America or Australia.
They aren’t as much Cinderellas as they are castoffs, some of whom might be getting calls from NBA teams in the coming days.
Point guard Carlik Jones was the 2022-2023 G-League Player of the Year while on a contract with the Chicago Bulls but was released last year as a luxury tax-saving move despite being one of the best guards in the World Cup in Manila. He played last season for the Zhejiang Golden Bulls in China.
All he did Saturday was put up a triple-double with 15 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, though he missed a crucial jumper with four seconds left.
Marial Shayok, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard who grew up in Ottawa, Canada, was a 2019 second-round pick by the Philadelphia 76ers out of Iowa State and played just four career games before being released. He played for several years in Turkey and averaged 19 points last season with Shandong in China.
Shayok was the best player on the floor at times in Saturday’s game, scoring 24 points and drilling 6 of 12 3-pointers.
Thor, a 6-10 power forward who starred at Auburn, played 165 games with the Charlotte Hornets over the past three seasons after being a 2021 second-round pick. The Hornets declined his option last month after he averaged 3.2 points and 2.3 rebounds in 63 games last season.
Thor had 14 points off the bench for South Sudan.
Wenyan Gabriel had all kinds of former teammates on Team USA. He played at Kentucky with Bam Adebayo, with Davis and James for the Los Angeles Lakers and briefly with Kevin Durant for the Brooklyn Nets. Gabriel has played 150 games with seven NBA teams, just five last season on a 10-day contract with the Memphis Grizzlies.
He had 11 points and put constant pressure on the American interior defense.
Khaman Maluach, who at 7-2 has huge upside, is the highest-profile player in the group. The 18-year-old will play next year at Duke. Super agent Rich Paul was in London to see not just clients James and Davis but also Maluach. He had seven points and three rebounds.
Joel Embiid had his best game for Team USA, scoring 14 points.
