On the London streets where soccer is king and rugby and cricket are also in the royal court, basketball is an afterthought.
Luol Deng played anyway. In hotbeds and obscure alleys, the basketball court has always been his refuge, if not his identity.
PHOTO: AP
Deng, a 6-foot-8 small forward, is the NBA's only player from England, his adopted homeland.
"If you ask me where my home is, I'd say London," Deng said. "My nationality, I'm Sudanese. That's where I was born. That's where my ancestors are from. That's my blood."
And that's why, as a member of the Dinka tribe, basketball is his birthright. Manute Bol, the most well-known Dinka to play in the NBA, offered Deng and his three brothers instruction.
From his father, Aldo, Deng learned to work hard and to take nothing for granted.
Aldo Deng, a former transportation minister in Sudan, was jailed for six months amid warfare in 1989. The family was forced to move after the government was overthrown, and after a stop in Egypt, England granted them asylum.
One of nine children, Deng was 5 when he followed his older brothers to the basketball court.
By the time Deng was 12, he was practicing with a professional club, the Brixton Topcats. By the time he was 14, he had given up soccer and moved, alone, to New Jersey, where he attended Blair Academy, a boarding school.
After a season at Duke with coach Mike Krzyzewski, Deng is starting to find his true home in Chicago.
"I knew when I left Duke after one year that I was going to jump in with two feet," Deng said. "There's no looking back. This is what I really wanted to do."
Averaging 12.5 points and 5.6 rebounds entering Saturday night's game at Charlotte, Deng is one of four key rookies for the Bulls, who are surging since their rocky start.
"We learned how to win when we were 0-9," Deng said. "We learned what we were doing wrong, and that was not coming out with a lot of energy."
That has changed with his fellow rookie Ben Gordon coming off the bench, complementing Deng.
"One thing about Lu and Ben, they are fearless," Bulls General Manager John Paxson said in a telephone interview. "They play confidently. This league can be humbling in some ways, and Lu always picks himself up and keeps moving."
Paxson tells of the time when Deng had his worst game at Duke, shooting 1 for 13. Deng virtually locked himself in the gym, and three days later he had his best game.
"He's a skilled player and a relentless worker," Paxson said. "People questioned his athleticism, but he is relentless in how he approaches the game, which is unique for a 19-year-old."
Deng, with his background and with his pride about the sport in England, is certainly not typical. "It's not as big as it is here; I wish it was," he said. "The thing about it in London, there are so many players who are doing well. It's waiting for more attention. I think the game is going to keep on growing."
Chris Webber failed to convert a last-second layup after grabbing an offensive rebound off an intentionally missed free throw, spoiling his debut for the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night in a 101-99 loss to the Sacramento Kings.
"I told Chris that the rebound was going to come long. Everything happened right," Allen Iverson said. "We just couldn't finish it."
Webber had 16 points, 11 rebounds and three steals in his first game with his new team. Strangely, it came against the team that traded him less than 72 hours earlier.
Webber didn't have the ball in his hands as much as he's accustomed to, but Iverson took care of distributing it by handing out a season-high 14 assists to go with his 27 points.
"I'm looking to the challenge to see how we connect," Webber said. "I think it's definitely Allen's team because he's proven to the city, the community and the team what he brings to the table. But I think now it's going to be our team because of the way him and I are going to work together."
Mike Bibby scored 19 points to lead six players in double figures for the Kings.
Webber, wearing a red and black headband and a white ``Sixers'' jersey, exchanged hugs with all five starters from his former team after receiving a thunderous ovation during introductions from the 76ers' first sellout crowd of the season.
Heat 101, Magic 98
In Miami, Dwyane Wade scored 14 of his 25 points in the final quarter, and Miami overcame the absence of Shaquille O'Neal to beat Orlando and avoid its first three-game losing streak of the season.
Wade scored eight straight Miami points down the stretch, first on a pair of tiebreaking jumpers, then with four straight free throws -- the last two giving the Heat a 99-95 lead with 15.8 seconds left.
He also made a crucial block on Steve Francis with 10.2 seconds left.
Eddie Jones had 15 points, Damon Jones added 14 and Michael Doleac and Rasual Butler each had 10 for Miami, which was without O'Neal for essentially a third straight game because of his sprained left knee.
Orlando's Grant Hill led all scorers with 28 points, on 12-of-17 shooting. Francis, who had 31 points in Orlando's last matchup with Miami, missed his first six shots from the field and finished with 16.
Knicks 90, Pacers 79
In New York, Stephon Marbury scored 21 points to lead New York over Indiana for its second straight victory.
Jamal Crawford added 17 points, and Kurt Thomas had 16 points and seven rebounds for the Knicks, who won consecutive games for the first time since Herb Williams took over as coach following Lenny Wilkens' resignation in late January.
Jermaine O'Neal led the Pacers with 24 points and nine rebounds, and Reggie Miller, playing his second-to-last game at Madison Square Garden, had 14 points.
The Pacers, playing without Jeff Foster (back spasms) and Jamaal Tinsley (bruised left foot), were coming off a 106-82 home victory over Cleveland on Friday night, and had their five-game winning streak snapped.
Bulls 94, Bobcats 90
In Charlotte, North Carolina, Ben Gordon sank a 3-pointer that sealed Chicago's victory over Charlotte and his college roommate, Emeka Okafor.
Okafor and Gordon were teammates on Connecticut's national title team last year and the Nos. 2 and 3 picks in the NBA draft and are leading Rookie of the Year contenders this season.
Okafor had 26 points and 12 rebounds to lead Charlotte, but Gordon had the big basket to win the game among his 11 points.
Antonio Davis led Chicago with 20 points.
Suns 124, Mavericks 123
In Dallas, Joe Johnson hit a jump shot with 4.7 seconds left, then Shawn Marion blocked Dirk Nowitzki from behind on a driving layup, giving Phoenix a thrilling ending to a victory over Dallas.
Johnson's jumper over newly acquired Keith Van Horn capped a 7-0 run over the final 1:46. Then Nowitzki appeared headed for the winner when Marion flew in behind him and swatted at the ball as the 7-foot German held it over his head. The ball went into the rim and Marion grabbed it, securing the victory and ending Dallas' six-game winning streak, its longest of the season.
Amare Stoudemire led Phoenix with 33 points and 10 rebounds.
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