Team USA Avoids Monumental Upset in Olympic Warm-Up

Getty Team USA forward LeBron James.

The South Sudan men’s national team has been nicknamed the Bright Stars — on July 20 they almost took down one of the biggest collections of basketball stars in Olympic history.

Team USA needed a late layup from Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James with 8 seconds left for a 101-100 win over South Sudan in an exhibition game ahead of the Summer Olympics in Paris despite being a 43.5-point favorite over the Bright Stars.

“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,” wrote ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. “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 led Team USA with 25 points as South Sudan led by as many as 16 points at one point. Team USA was a 43.5-point favorite against the Bright Stars.

South Sudan in Olympics for First Time

South Sudan has only had a national team since 2011 — not long before head coach Royal Ivey was playing the last of his 10 NBA seasons. Ivey is also currently an assistant coach for the Houston Rockets.

South Sudan qualified for the Olympics for the first time by having the best finish of any African team at the 2023 World Cup, where they clinched the spot in Paris by defeating Angola in their final World Cup game.

While every player on Team USA’s roster isn’t just an NBA player but has been an NBA All-Star at one point except for Derrick White, South Sudan’s roster has no current NBA players but does feature one up-and-coming college star in Duke freshmen center Khaman Maluach.

“(South Sudan) aren’t as much Cinderellas as they are castoffs, some of whom might be getting calls from NBA teams in the coming days,” Windhorst wrote.

Two key players for South Sudan have played over 100 games in the NBA. Forward JT Thor came off the bench to score 14 points and has played 165 games for the Charlotte Hornets over the last three seasons. Power forward Wenyen Gabriel has played 150 games with seven different NBA teams since 2018, including a stint alongside James and Anthony Davis on the Lakers.

South Sudan’s leading scorer against Team USA was shooting guard Marial Shayok, who played college basketball at Iowa State and was a second-round pick by the Philadelphia 76ers but played just four games in the NBA. Shayok scored 24 points against Team USA.

What’s Next for Team USA?

Team USA is 4-0 in exhibition play and has one more tune-up before the Olympics begin when they face Germany on July 22 in London.

Team USA opens Olympic pool play on July 28 against Serbia followed by a rematch against South Sudan on Aug. 31 and against Puerto Rico on Aug. 3.

All of the Olympic preliminary games are at Pierre Mauroy Stadium in Lille, France, followed by medal play at Accor Arena in Paris. Team USA is trying to win its fourth consecutive gold medal.

Outside of Team USA’s boycott of the 1980 Olympics, America has only lost the gold medal three times since men’s basketball became an Olympic sport in 1948; 1972 (Soviet Union), 1988 (Soviet Union) and 2004 (Argentina).