New BBF Chair Aiming to Re-Engage Luol Deng with GB Programme

By Sam Neter on January 12, 2016

New British Basketball Federation Independent Chairman, Nick Humby, has said he is aiming to re-engage Miami Heat star Luol Deng with the Great Britain programme.

In an interview with BBC Sport, Humby said “that must be our ambition” of having Deng suit up for Great Britain again, following comments at the end of last year he is unsure if he’ll ever play for the National Team again.

“I saw the interview (Deng) he did before Christmas,” Humby, who was formerly the Chief Operating Officer of the Football Association, said.

“He’s obviously a fantastic ambassador for the sport, he’s had an amazing 12 years out in the NBA and we want him to be involved with the sport in Britain. He has got a tremendous amount to offer in all sorts of ways, I hope he’ll play again for Britain.

“I’m reaching out to him, trying to have a dialogue with him, and encourage him and see what it takes to keep him involved and bring him back involved with the sport in Britain. It’s really important that people like him are part of this overall picture.”

The two time NBA All Star has not played for Great Britain since the London 2012 Olympics, and has recently been voicing his frustrations with the GB programme, citing a lack of strategy and communication.

Humby said he would love to have Deng playing in the Eurobasket 2017 qualifiers at the end of this year.

Additionally, the insurance costs to cover Deng’s NBA contract have always been a major hurdle.

“The NBA requires us to insure against injury and that is a big cost and we need to solve that problem,” Humby added.

Watch the interview over at BBC Sport.

Do you like our work?

We have a tiny favour to ask. In 2018 we set out to make Hoopsfix sustainable by building our relationship directly with our readers. Up until now, Hoopsfix has been creating editorials, videos and podcasts to provide sorely missing coverage of the British game and its distinct culture and community.

We have funded Hoopsfix with our freelance work creating basketball media, but sadly that means not only does it fall behind our client’s priorities, but some of those clients are the same organisations we need to report objectively on putting us in a conflicted position.

We want to devote more time to our mission of helping British basketball reach its potential, and produce even more content for the basketball community by making Hoopsfix a sustainable 100% independent business funded directly by our readers through Patreon.

If everyone who enjoys our content chose to support us, our future would be much more secure. For as little as $3 per month, you can support Hoopsfix – and it only takes a minute.

We are tremendously honoured and humbled to have a community of people who value what we do, and we look forward to being at the forefront of the British game as it continues to evolve.

Support Hoopsfix