This is bigger than the whole country PETER JOK ON FACING LEBRON AT OLYMPICS, HIS FRIEND CAITLIN CLARK AND HOW BASKETBALL IS GIVING HOPE TO TROUBLED SOUTH SUDAN
PETER Jok had never seen the clip before.
The one of Wes Hoolahan arcing an inch-perfect pass for Robbie Brady to score against Italy in Lille eight summers ago and the wild celebrations that followed.
Now he’s hoping for a similar outcome when South Sudan face the USA dream team in the very same Stade Pierre Mauroy during the Olympic Games.
“Yeah it’s basketball man, you never know,” says Jok.
It’s late Sunday afternoon in Dublin and Sunday morning in Iowa when Jok sits down to talk with the Irish Daily Star about South Sudan and Paris.
The world’s newest nation is also one of the most fragile and after years of violence, poverty and division, the country is now at the frontline of a huge humanitarian crisis as hundreds of thousands flee war across the border in Sudan.
Basketball is one of the few glimmers of hope in the region right now.
Last year, South Sudan qualified for the Olympic Games for the very first time with a team made up of players based all over the world, including Jok.
They will be the first team to represent the nation, which only gained independence in 2011, at the Games. It’s been some journey.
“Ah man, it was dope,” says Jok.
“When we get together, it’s bigger than us as a team. It’s for the country.
Motivates
“Everything we’re doing is for the country. That’s what motivates us and what keeps us going.”
Jok was born in Rumbek when it was still part of Sudan.
His father Dut Jok was a member of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army and was killed during the long battle for independence when Jok was just three years old.
Jok carries his father with him wherever he goes.
“He died in the liberation, he was a captain, he died when I was young,”he says.
“I mean, this is what he fought for.
“For us to be our own country. So when I represent South Sudan he’s definitely in my thoughts.
“My mom works with the government back home, she’s with the parliament right now.
“Those two are definitely my heroes and my role models and one of the main reasons why I’m playing for the team.”
The story of the South Sudan basketball team is the story of refugees.
The story of resilience and courage and overcoming overwhelming odds.
After his father’s death, Jok’s family moved first to Uganda and then on to Iowa in the US, where they settled in West Des Moines.
It was here that he fell in love with basketball, becoming a high school and college star, before turning professional.
He has since played in the US, France, Spain and now Canada and counts basketball superstar Caitlin Clark as one of his friends.
Jok is also a distant cousin of Luol Deng, the former Chicago Bulls player and current South Sudan Basketball Federation president, who started pulling together a national team a few years ago.
“He’s been leading the way since he started the team,” says Jok.
“His phone is open to every player. So whenever players have a question or there’s anything they need, they can call him or text him.
“He’s been a great leader for us as a team.”
There are no indoor basketball courts in the country — the first is currently under construction — that’s the kind of base the team were starting from.
And it was a piece of misfortune for Algeria that helped them on the long road to Paris.
“We weren’t even supposed to make it this far because in the qualifiers in Africa, we didn’t qualify,”says the 30-year-old.
“But when Covid happened, a team got sick or something and they couldn’t make it so we replaced them.
Skyrocketed
“After we replaced them we played in the AfroBasket tournament and from there on we took full advantage of it. And it has skyrocketed upwards since then.”
Last August they played in basketball’s World Cup for the first time, finishing as the top African nation in the tournament to secure a place in Paris.
Along the way they beat China 89-69, while Jok scored 21 points in a defeat to eventual runners-up Serbia. His mother, Amelia Ring Bol, was there to see it.
“My mom was there at the World Cup, she was actually there for the game against Serbia,”says Jok.
“She don’t really watch a lot of my games, even when I was growing up because she was so busy.
“So for her to come to the World Cup and see me play good… it meant a lot for me.”
There were wild celebrations in the dressing-room after Olympic qualification, scenes that were replicated ten-fold in South Sudan.
When the squad went back there last September they were greeted as national heroes.
“That was the first time I’ve been back for a long time,” says Jok.
“We went to Juba, the capital, and stayed there for a week.
“They were celebrating us from the airport all the way to the hotel.
“It was crazy. I never felt anything like that before.
“I got to meet family that I hadn’t met before.
“So yeah, it was a great experience for sure.
“Experiencing that is also another motivation to try to win and keep going because it pretty much united the whole country.
“There was no different tribes or anything like that. Everybody came together.”
South Sudan became the 193rd member of the United Nations in 2011 after decades of bloody conflict.
Civil war within the East African state followed soon afterwards.
Climate change, corruption, violence and soaring inflation have all had a devastating impact on the country in recent times.
And since war broke out in Sudan last year more than 600,000 refugees have arrived into South Sudan in one of the worst humanitarian crises the world has seen.
“Back home right now… there’s not a lot of good things going on,” he says.
“But when we get together and play and everybody comes together to watch us, that’s a big deal for sure.
Positivity
“Everything we’re doing is trying to help bring something else besides war… we want to bring positivity into our country.
“Hopefully we keep doing it. Keep making everybody happy and unite everybody.
“We’ve been through enough negativity.
“I just don’t want another war to break out.”
Given the lack of facilities and the worsening situation