Luol Deng, a former forward for the Miami Heat, is continuing his involvement in basketball by becoming the president of the South Sudanese Basketball Federation in 2019.

Ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, South Sudan recently squared off against the formidable Team USA in an exhibition match. They lost 101-100, but they came close to pulling off one of the biggest upsets in Olympic history. Guard Gilbert Arenas, who is retired, expressed his displeasure on social media over the USA’s close loss.

Deng saw the comment and respectfully addressed it in a recent Instagram post.

Deng stated, “I was more disappointed to see these ignorant remarks coming from two individuals I’ve always respected than I was upset or angry at these ignorant remarks made by my former colleagues.”

almost the course of their NBA careers, the two All-Stars played each other multiple times and overlapped for almost six seasons. Despite having comparable success in the league, it is evident that their trajectories have diverged since retirement.

“As for Gilbert’s comments, they were certainly more disrespectful and cruel,” Deng said. “I don’t really care that much. I am African, and I would never trade places with anyone. However, these remarks can make you feel worse of yourself and make the rest of the world think less of Africans, especially for young African and African American children who look up to and listen to Gilbert.”

In the comments, fans commended Deng for acting with the highest dignity—a behavior demanded of a man who truly deserved to be called the president of basketball.

Kel’el Ware outlines lofty objectives for the Heat in his rookie campaign.

In an interview with Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller for their podcast, “OGs Show,” rookie Kel’el Ware of the Miami Heat outlined some lofty objectives for his inaugural NBA year.

Although Ware was one of the Heat’s most impressive rookies and helped the team win the summer league, it is unclear exactly what role he will play when the 2024–25 season begins. All sorts of things, including how he grows over the next several months, will matter even though he had a great performance in Las Vegas.

Despite the uncertainty, Ware spoke with Haslem and Miller from Vegas and listed his three goals for his debut campaign. They were:

Goals for Kel’el Ware’s rookie season include: vying to be included on the NBA All-Defensive squad.
Play the Rising Stars match.
Enter the Rookie of the Year competition.
Always play the defensive. group
Haslem gave the seven-footer another objective.

Haslem instructed Ware, “I want you to average a rebound every three minutes.” “That is above average if you average a rebound every three minutes. In a 48-minute game, approximately 15 rebounds would be obtained if you averaged one rebound every three minutes. That’s the way of thinking. That is the motor that is required.

Haslem probably would like to see the same mentality continue into the regular season. Over the course of eight summer league games, Ware averaged 8.4 rebounds in 26.7 minutes, or around 15.1 per 48 minutes.

The 7-footer finished with five double-doubles. During his 32 minutes of action in Monday’s championship game against Memphis, he scored 21 points and pulled down 10 rebounds, including four offensive rebounds.

Miami is one of just two clubs in history to have never had a Rookie of the Year winner, the other being the Denver Nuggets. Justise Winslow came in sixth in 2015–16, Kendrick Nunn came in second (behind Ja Morant) in 2019–20, and Jaime Jaquez Jr. ended fourth in the ROY voting last season.

No matter how lofty, Ware’s ambitions are encouraging to hear about. In order to reach this target, he would need to play in 65 games and accumulate enough playing time to be eligible for the award.

Ware has the correct mentality to put in the work required to accomplish his goals, as seen by his willingness to challenge himself in this way. His chances of making the team will rise if he can perform well on defense, particularly as a rookie at an above-average or All-Defensive level.

Put forward by Bam

When playing against opponents of his caliber in summer league, Ware flourished, but a teammate swiftly brought him back to earth.

Before leaving for the Paris Games, Bam Adebayo made the first move to challenge Ware to a one-on-one match in Las Vegas.

“Me and Bam played ones, I think my first workout there.” stated Ware. “We played four positions, and it was good. It was going to be 2-2, but I jumped on a pump fake, and I won one and he won three.”

Haslem then talked about the Heat’s “iron sharpens iron” theory. He talked about his one-on-one encounters with players like LeBron James, Joe Johnson, and Dwyane Wade. Then he mentioned the latest event in which he faced off against Adebayo.

In the NBA Draft, Ware hopes to prove to team president Pat Riley that he is a viable asset. Ware, who won the summer league title, is excited to back Adebayo and the Heat in his first season. His recent title game performance, which included 21 points and 10 rebounds on 80% shooting, demonstrated his potential influence.