Page 94 - 2018 Powerlist

Profiles

Luol Deng

NBA player, LA Lakers

The Sudanese-British basketball star fled South Sudan as a
child with his family to escape the civil war, finding refuge
in Brixton, London.
Last summer, at the age of 31, he signed a four-year,
£55 million deal with the LA Lakers, who bought him from
Sport
rivals Miami Heat. He has also played for the Cleveland
Cavaliers and the Chicago Bulls.
As a young man, Luol excelled in football and basketball
and in 1999 he left the UK for the US to pursue his dreams of
playing for the NBA.
He attended the Blair Academy and during his second
year was considered the most promising high school player
after LeBron James. He attended Duke University and in
the 2004 NBA draft was picked seventh by the Phoenix
Suns but immediately traded to the Chicago Bulls, where
he had dreamed of playing since growing up watching the
legendary Michael Jordan.
Off the basketball court, Luol is a prolific charity
campaigner who has his own charitable foundation. The
non-profit organisation uses basketball as a tool to give
hope to those in Africa, the USA and the UK. Its work in the
different continents and countries follows the life journey of
Luol, with each region having helped him in a different but
significant way on his path to becoming an NBA superstar.
This summer he hosted the 2017 DENG Camp USA,
offering intensive coaching to basketball hopefuls of South
Sudanese descent. It’s the first time the camp has been run
in the US but Deng has been hosting the camps in the UK
for the past 12 years. He also plans to take the concept to
Australia and roll it out internationally.
In 2015, Luol opened the Manute Bol Court in South
Sudan, which was built by his foundation. Describing it as
one of the highlights of his career, he said he built it
for children to play and learn the game that transformed
his life. Luol represented Great Britain at the 2012 Olympics.

90 Powerlist 2018