Luol Deng Brings a Positive Image to Basketball

Luol Deng is doing wonders for Great Britain’s team as they try to qualify for the 2012 Olympics, but what is most interesting about Deng is his back-story and the positive influence that he’s giving to basketball. At only 22-years-old, Deng has accomplished a lot. Basketball-wise he’s already helped the Chicago Bulls get to the NBA playoffs and he is now a major player in pushing Great Britain towards the Olympics. Life-wise, he’s also been through a lot. When Deng was young his father Aldo, a member of the Sudanese parliament, moved his family to Egypt to escape the Second Sudanese Civil War. In Egypt they met former NBA center Manute Bol, also from Sudan, who taught Deng and his older brother to play basketball. When the Deng family was granted political asylum, they emigrated to South Norwood in London, England.

According to press notes, Great Britain’s coach Chris Finch speaks very highly of Deng, saying, “Britain couldn’t ask for a better ambassador, not only for all sports, but the country in general. He’s extremely professional and takes what he does seriously. Whether that’s campaigning for humanitarian issues or playing for Great Britain or being a better Chicago Bull.” Deng’s core mission in Britain has been to make basketball more popular to the country’s residents, but the hard part is getting them to take an interest. “It definitely starts with facilities…Growing up here it was really hard to find a lot of facilities to practice in and a lot of kids only practice maybe once, twice, three times a week.” So far Deng is doing a great job of providing a positive influence for Britain’s youth, and his high-scoring lately is definitely bringing more attention to the game.

See Deng when he returns to Chicago when you get your Chicago Bulls tickets at StubHub.com.