Luol Deng, Chicago Bulls Forward, Joins Great Britain’s Olympic Team

Luol Deng, the professional basketball star who currently plays for the Chicago Bulls, is the only NBA baller to join Great Britain’s Olympic Team, according to Sports Illustrated. Although two other British-born players — Ben Gordon and Byron Mullens of the Charlotte Hornets — were expected to suit up alongside Deng this July, both men have opted out for various reasons. SI reports that Gordon failed to show up at the training camp in Houston by the scheduled deadline, while Mullens is currently recovering from an injury.

The squad, which also features Kieron Achara, Robert Archibald, Eric Boateng, Dan Clark, Luol Deng, Joel Freeland, Kyle Johnson, Andrew Lawrence, Mike Lenzly, Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Nate Reinking, and Andrew Sullivan, is particularly excited about the experience, as they’re members of the first basketball team to represent Britain at the Summer Olympics since 1948.

Deng, meanwhile, is particularly jazzed about the experience, and plans to make the country proud. “We have all worked very hard for this opportunity and to have the final 12 named is exciting,” Deng explained during a recent interview. “The next few weeks will fly by and I can’t wait to step on the court with my team-mates at the Games.”

The hotly-anticipated 2012 Summer Olympics begins on July 27th. Britain’s men’s basketball team is currently scheduled to play their first game on July 29th, though their first opponent has yet to be announced as of this writing.

If you’ve curious to read what folks on Twitter are saying about Deng’s contribution to the Olympic games, you can find a small assortment of Twitter reactions in the space provided below. From what I can gather, apparently a lot of people didn’t know he was British.