LeBron James' layup helps USA avoid South Sudan upset

Brian Windhorst, ESPN Senior WriterJuly 20, 2024, 5:38 p.m. ET

NBA writer for ESPN.com since 2010 Covered the Cleveland Cavs for seven years Author of two books

LONDON — A movie will probably one day be made about South Sudan's basketball team. And the players representing the young, war-torn nation added a powerful, dramatic moment Saturday night that the cheering crowd at the O2 Arena won't soon forget.

LeBron James scored a play-action layup with eight seconds left to prevent what would have been a historic upset and Team USA came away with a 101-100 victory.

Former Charlotte Hornets forward JT Thor made a 3-pointer with 20 seconds left and South Sudan tried three times in the final seconds but failed to convert the miracle.

The club is called the Bright Stars – the first team to represent the country at the Olympics when it arrives in Paris next week – and it gave the American team an exciting and serious test.

“I didn't do a great job preparing our team, I think we didn't focus enough on what they're capable of and that's my fault,” said U.S. coach Steve Kerr.

“They played a magnificent game and the end was good for us, just to feel it. To feel what it's going to be like in Paris and Lille. … It reminds us that when we play against teams, it's the biggest game of their lives and we have to expect everyone to play like that.”

South Sudan built a lead of as much as 16 points and threatened to pull off one of the biggest upsets ever seen in international basketball before Team USA pulled away.

James may have been interested in buying the film rights to the South Sudan story, but he was determined not to be on the losing team. James was vicious in refusing the surprise attempt, aggressively taking control of the game while the United States was in deep trouble.

He scored 25 points and made a series of great plays during a 23-5 run from the end of the third quarter to the start of the fourth. A powerful dunk that led to a 3-point play and a 3-point shot were crucial plays.

“You can't take anything away from South Sudan,” James said. “They played extremely good basketball and that's why the game was won between the lines and not just on paper.”

James appeared nervous when Kerr opted not to start him or the other starters to begin the third quarter. Kerr has done that before in these Olympic preseason games, but he also wanted to change his tune after Team USA's defense was shaky in allowing the dribble penetration that led to the Bright Stars shooting 57 percent and a flurry of three-pointers in the first half.

“I think the whole team was embarrassed at halftime that they were totally outplayed and down 14 points,” Kerr said. “And I don't think [James] “I was really happy that I didn't start him in the third quarter. But I thought the next group we put on the floor did a really good job defensively. And I looked down a couple of times and I can see LeBron biting him a little bit to be on the floor as soon as he stepped on the floor and he went to work, so he was brilliant.”

Steph Curry also made two crucial three-pointers, helping Team USA snap a 14-of-15 three-point streak that contributed to the deficit. And he said he and his teammates learned from their performance, which improved to 4-0 in exhibition games this summer.

“We can get beat if we don’t play our style of basketball. And our style of basketball is to play defense,” said Curry, who scored 12 points. “We didn’t make them uncomfortable at all in the first half and they took advantage of it. But we also learned that we have this gear if we can find it, no matter who’s on the floor, we can overwhelm teams for 40 minutes and this is a great reminder of both of those things.”

Anthony Davis, who had another strong game for Team USA in what has been a tour de force over the past three weeks, made a series of plays to finish off a 15-point, 10-rebound performance to seal the game.

The South Sudanese players showed tremendous collective athleticism and fearlessness against a U.S. team that many South Sudanese players consider peers. Most of them are descendants of refugees and grew up in North America or Australia.

These aren't so much Cinderellas as they are rejects, some of whom could be getting calls from NBA teams in the coming days.

Point guard Carlik Jones was named the 2022-23 G League Player of the Year while signed with the Chicago Bulls but was released last year in a luxury deal to save money, despite being a top point guard at last year's World Cup in Manila. He played last season for the Zhejiang Golden Bulls.

All he did was have a triple-double with 15 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, but he missed a shot with four seconds left, the rebound sparking a chaotic scuffle for the ball around the basket where the referees chose not to call contact and the United States escaped.

Marial Shayok, a 6-foot-5 guard who grew up in Ottawa, Canada, was selected in the second round by the Philadelphia 76ers in 2019 out of Iowa State and played just four career games before being released. He played several years in Turkey and averaged 19 points last season with Shandong in China.

He was the best player on the court at times during the game, scoring 24 points and making 6 of 12 3-pointers.

Thor, a 6-foot-2 power forward who starred at Auburn, has played 165 games with the Hornets over the past three years after being selected in the second round in 2022. The Hornets declined his option last month after he averaged 3.2 points and 2.3 rebounds in 63 games last season.

Thor scored 14 points as a substitute.

Wenyan Gabriel has had many former teammates on Team USA. He played at Kentucky with Bam Adebayo, with Anthony Davis and LeBron James with the Los Angeles Lakers and briefly with Kevin Durant with the Brooklyn Nets. Gabriel has played 150 games with seven NBA teams, including just five last season on a 10-day contract with the Memphis Grizzlies.

He scored 11 points and put constant pressure on the American interior defense.

Khaman Maluach, a 7-foot-4 with huge potential, is the most prominent player in the group. The 18-year-old will play at Duke next year. Super agent Rich Paul was in London not only to see his clients James and Davis, but Maluach as well.

He scored seven points and grabbed three rebounds.

“We want to keep the momentum, the mindset and the tenacity that we showed (at the Olympics),” said South Sudan coach Royal Ivey, who is an assistant coach with the Houston Rockets. “We didn’t flinch.”

Joel Embiid, who was born and raised in the West African country of Cameroon before moving to the United States at age 16, had his best game for Team USA with 14 points and seven rebounds.

In 2021, the U.S. team lost to Nigeria, the African representative at the Tokyo Olympics, in an exhibition match in Las Vegas. Since 2019, it has lost nine times to seven different nations, including three in exhibition matches.

They avoided another defeat, which could have been embarrassing for a national program that has only been around for a few years after former NBA All-Star and South Sudanese native Luol Deng pulled together the funding and players through hard work.

“I think sometimes there’s a tendency to let yourself go. I think the fact that we played well against Serbia the other night, it was a natural letdown game that you fear,” Kerr said. “What we’ve learned with American basketball is that the gap has closed…so it’s no surprise to see a South Sudan team playing really well and making three-pointers. The game has gotten better all over the world, but we still feel like we control the outcome based on our performance and even though all the other teams are good now, we still feel like it’s up to us to determine the outcome based on our defense and our effort.”

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