Luol Deng's draft night experience: 'My mom started doing a tribal dance'

For young athletes, draft night is a defining moment. Being chosen is one thing; however, validation and the culmination of years of sweat, sacrifice, and relentless determination all come down to that night.

It's the moment when a dream is no longer abstract—it's real. For former Chicago Bulls star Luol Deng, this moment in the 2004 NBA Draft was life-changing. The weight of his emotions and those of his loved ones is traced back through hardship, hope, and resilience.

Working his way up

Born in Sudan, a country ravaged by civil war, Deng and his family were forced to flee their homeland. They sought refuge in Egypt, where survival was the priority, not dreams of professional basketball.

But even amidst the uncertainty, fate intervened in the form of a towering figure named Manute Bol. The Sudanese NBA star, who was in Egypt at the time, took an interest in young Deng, mentoring him and planting the seeds of a future that seemed unimaginable.

By the time his family relocated to England and later the United States, Luol's talent began to flourish. He joined Blair Academy in New Jersey, where his basketball prowess quickly garnered attention. College scouts circled, and soon he was playing for Duke University as a one-and-done player destined for the NBA.

Deng sat in the green room at Madison Square Garden, an 18-year-old brimming with nervousness and anticipation. Then, with the seventh pick, his name was called out.

"I was drafted at 18, obviously," says Deng. "I was 18 years old, but if you rewind just eight years, if you just go back, I'm a refugee in Egypt, 10 years old. I've never seen an NBA game on TV or never had any of that, and sitting there in the green room, I'm on the table with Manute and I'm about to be drafted. I remember, as soon as they said my name, I remembered my mom got up and she started doing a tribal chant and dancing."

Selected by the Phoenix Suns, he was quickly traded to the Bulls, where he spent most of his career. To him and his family, that moment was surreal.