Young South Sudanese player selected for NBA basketball team

South Sudanese basketball player, Khaman Maluach, made history on Wednesday when he was selected 10th by the Houston Rockets, traded to the Phoenix Suns, at the 2025 NBA Draft.

His is an incredible success story. At the age of 14, he became the youngest player ever to enrol in an NBA academy.

At the draft in Brooklyn, New York, Maluach said it was a day that he would never forget.

"I didn't think I was going to cry, but sometimes I let the emotions out, and I was so happy and everything was just going through my head, my whole journey and my people on the continent, I represent the continent of Africa," he said.

Born in South Sudan and raised in Uganda, he only started playing basketball after someone suggested he did so because of his height.

Standing 2.1 metres tall, he played three years of professional basketball in Africa, before heading to Duke University in the United States.

He was the university’s third Blue Devil player to be selected in the top 10.

"It was so emotional getting to see my teammates, my fellow freshmen getting drafted. I was so happy for them because they deserve everything they have,” he said.

The 18-year-old centre joins a short list of NBA Academy alumni to be taken in the first round.