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“With the 10th pick of the 2025 NBA Draft, the Houston Rockets select Khaman Maluach,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced in the world’s most popular basketball league’s highly-anticipated draft night in New York.
“From Rumbek, South Sudan, the NBA Academy Africa in Senegal and Duke [University],” Silver added as the cameras cut to an emotional Maluach, who bowed his head and shook in disbelief during the ceremony on Wednesday at the Barclays Center, home of the Brooklyn Nets NBA team.
The 18-year-old eventually wiped his tears and stood up to loud cheers and high fives from his close circle, before walking up to the stage to pick up his draft hat.
Clips of the moving scenes were swiftly shared on social media, with one fan saying: “Khaman Maluach’s reaction to being drafted is what sport is all about.”
The young player said it was a day he would “never forget” in his life as he capped off an incredible journey from the refugee camps in Africa to basketball’s highest stage.
Here’s all to know about Maluach:
Who is Khaman Maluach?
Born on September 14, 2006 in Rumbek, a city in the centre of South Sudan, Maluach moved to neighbouring Uganda after a civil war erupted in his home country in 2013.
In Uganda, he grew up at a refugee camp in Kawempe, an area on the outskirts of the capital, Kampala.
How and when did Khaman Maluach start playing basketball?
Maluach picked up basketball quite late, at the age of 13, when the push towards the game came from an unexpected source: A motorcyclist, who stopped when he saw Maluach walking down a road in Uganda, and offered some unsolicited yet prophetic advice.
“He was like, ‘Yo, you should start playing basketball. In three to four years, you’ll be such a tall person,'” Maluach recalled when speaking to the Olympic Games website in 2023.
The soft-spoken player began playing seriously after attending a local championship organised by South Sudan’s basketball great Luol Deng in 2019.
“I didn’t know basketball for a long time because of lack of facilities [in Uganda],” he told basketball website Pro Insight in 2023.
“It’s different out there, I had to walk at least 45 minutes to go play basketball.”
How tall is Khaman Maluach?
At a height of 7-foot-2 (218cm), Maluach stood out amongst boys of his age in his adopted hometown of Kawempe in Uganda.
“When I went to Deng’s tournament, I saw guys my height and felt like I belonged [on a basketball court],” Maluach said in his interview.
Khaman Maluach poses after being drafted by the Phoenix Suns during the 2025 NBA Draft at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York [Jennifer Pottheiser/Getty Images via AFP]Is Maluach going to the NBA?
Maluach realised his long-term dream of playing in the NBA when he was picked in Wednesday’s draft, a prospect he once thought was a delusion.
“[It was] me being delusional about my dreams, believing that I’m going to make it to the NBA one day and now, I’m here – I just got drafted,” an emotional Maluach told reporters shortly afterwards.
A proud African, Maluach says that to see children from his continent be inspired by his story keeps him going.
“I tell them it’s not rocket science, it’s not something crazy [to play in the NBA].
“Sometimes it’s OK to be delusional about your dreams and they end up happening.”
He is the highest-drafted former NBA Academy Africa player ever.
How did Maluach go from South Sudan to the NBA?
Maluach was selected by the NBA Academy Africa in Senegal in 2021, where he honed his basketball skills and worked hard to add muscle to his skinny frame.
He credits the academy for putting him on the path to success.
“They guided me, put me in the right place at the right time for me to be able to succeed,” Maluach told ESPN a day before the NBA draft.
In 2024, he made his way to the United States after signing with one of the top college basketball programs in the country at Duke University.
Khaman Maluach dunks the ball during a game between Duke and Arizona in the NCAA college basketball tournament [File: Frank Franklin II/AP]Which NBA team will Maluach play for?
While Maluach’s pick was announced by Houston Rockets on draft night, he will play for the Phoenix Suns in his NBA rookie season, as his draft rights had already been traded to the Arizona club in a trade involving superstar Kevin Durant earlier in the week.
Phoenix failed to qualify for the NBA playoffs in the 2024-25 season after finishing with a 36-46 regular season record.
What did Maluach say after his draft?
“It’s such a special moment for me [to be picked],” he said while still in tears shortly after his draft.
“I was just so happy, my family was out there with me and I got to have my head coach and my circle around me, seeing the best day of my life and them being able to experience it with me was great.”
Maluach talked about his African background unabashedly and with great pride.
“I’m here representing the whole continent of Africa,” he said.
Before the show, a smiling Maluach showed off the inside of his jacket – which bore the colours of Uganda on one side and South Sudan on the other.
“Living in Africa, I had the whole continent on my back, giving hope to young kids and inspiring them and the next generation of African basketball players.”
Maluach said he would send his draft hat back to Africa.
“I’ll send it to my two coaches who showed me the fundamentals of basketball back in Uganda.”
Khaman Maluach:
☑️ Born in South Sudan 🇸🇸
☑️ Raised in Uganda 🇺🇬
☑️ Standing tall for the whole continent 🌍#NBADraft pic.twitter.com/UzmCwzdHYV
— NBA Africa (@NBA_Africa) June 26, 2025
Where is Khaman Maluach’s family?
Maluach said his parents were watching the NBA Draft back in Uganda, but some of his family members surrounded him when his name was announced.
He later thanked his parents for making him a “good young man”.
“I wanna thank them so much for raising me the way they raised me – the right way – and showing me the good values of life.”
In a previous interview, Maluach said he wants to change his mother’s life by bringing her to the US.
Has Khaman Maluach played for South Sudan?
Maluach was the youngest player at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 when he represented his native South Sudan at the tournament in the Philippines.
He was also part of their squad at the Paris Olympics 2024.
Khaman Maluach, right, played against the likes of NBA stars Kevin Durant, LeBron James and Stephen Curry when he represented South Sudan at the Paris 2024 Olympics [File: Brian Snyder/Reuters]Will Trump’s ‘Africa visa ban’ affect Khaman Maluach?
When the US government revoked all existing visas issued to South Sudanese passport holders and barred further entries of the country’s nationals due to a failed deportation case in April, it signalled an escalation of the Trump administration’s sweeping crackdown on immigration.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio blamed the transitional government of the African nation for a lack of “full cooperation” and accused South Sudan of “taking advantage” of Washington while announcing the move. It was the first such blanket sanction on any country since President Donald Trump took office.
At the time of the announcement, Maluach was still at Duke on a student visa and the university said it was “aware of the announcement”.
However, with his anticipated move to the NBA, Maluach’s visa category is likely to change, which may cause some hindrance to his team, the Phoenix Suns.
What rank is South Sudan in basketball?
The African nation is ranked 23rd in FIBA’s rankings but are the top-ranked team on the continent.
Why is South Sudan so good at basketball?
In addition to being the youngest nation at the FIBA World Cup 2023, South Sudan became the only African team to qualify directly for the Paris Olympics 2024.
According to the team’s head coach, Royal Ivey, the players’ resilience and hard work are to be credited for their success.
“They know how to work, they push forward, they fought day in, day out, and we got here because of the hard work and the sweat that we put in every day,” the Bright Stars’ coach said during the World Cup.
Deng, a former two-time NBA All-Star, took over as president of the South Sudan Basketball Federation in 2019 and recruited South Sudanese players from the diaspora, briefly coaching the team himself.
South Sudan’s leading scorer, Carlik Jones of the Chicago Bulls, credits Deng as one of the main reasons for the game’s development in the conflict-ridden country.
“He’s giving back to the development of the game, he helps with on-court stuff, off-the-court stuff,” Jones told Al Jazeera in 2023.
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