South Sudan make NBA legend eat his words after near upset against LeBron James and Co

NBA legend Paul Pierce had to take back his words after appearing to mock South Sudan’s basketball team ahead of their friendly against Team USA which the Americans won by just one point.

Ahead of the friendly at London’s O2 Arena on Saturday, Pierce dismissed South Sudan, saying they do not even have tall players, never mind NBA’s tallest-ever player Manute Bol, is from the African country.

“Man, they probably haven’t got anyone over 6’3, now we’ve got South Sudan, they should have put Lithuania in,” Pierce said when he appeared on FS1’s Undisputed show.

Pierce then went on how he thought the South Sudanese would lose by 30 points, to which his co-presenter Skip Bayless replied: “Honestly, I wouldn’t take 35 and a half.”

However, the game was anything but easy for the star-studded Americans as they had to come from 16 points down to avoid one of the biggest shocks in basketball history in a dramatic 101-100 victory.

South Sudan led 58-42 in the second quarter before taking a 14-point lead into the break.

The USA went on a 16-0 run to end the third quarter with a five-point lead but South Sudan battled back to go one point ahead with 20 seconds remaining.

LeBron James hit a crucial lay-up to put his side ahead by one point with eight seconds to go, and South Sudan could not hit a late winner.

After the game, Pierce had to take back his words, sending an apology to the South Sudanese.

“Lol! I’m sorry, I wasn’t familiar with your game,” he posted on X.

Team USA are targeting a fifth consecutive men's basketball gold medal at the Olympics while South Sudan, ranked 33rd in the world, will play in their first Games.

South Sudan and the US will face off again at the Paris Olympics in Group C on July 31.