NBA draft prospect Khaman Maluach opens up about what inspired him to show up and play basketball back in Uganda

The 2025 NBA draft is rapidly approaching and Khaman Maluach is one of its top prospects. He is projected to be a top selection in the draft alongside a few of his former Duke teammates. With the draft set to start on June 25, many NBA prospects have started to make more media appearances.

On Tuesday, a clip of Maluach answering questions about his upbringing was posted on the NBA Future Starts Now Instagram account. Maluach was first asked to tell everybody where he is from.

"I'm from South Sudan. I'm from Rumbek, but I grew up in Uganda," Maluach said.

He then opened up about why he kept going to the basketball court when it was nearly an hour walk there every day.

"The love for the game and the motivation that I had from the players I saw that had the same background with me or the same story with me," Maluach said.

Khaman Maluach played one college season before declaring for the NBA draft. In 39 games as a freshman, he averaged 8.6 ppg, 6.6 rpg and 1.3 bpg. He helped the Blue Devils make a run to the Final Four in March Madness, the team's deepest run (tied with 2022) since winning the NCAA championship in 2015.

Khaman Maluach is one of three Duke players to go in the Top 10 of the 2025 NBA draft

Duke consistently produces NBA talent but this year is impressive even for the Blue Devils. Most basketball fans will be familiar with Duke's Cooper Flagg. He is one of the most hyped prospects in recent years and is expected to go first to the Dallas Mavericks.

However, basketball fans who primarily follow the NBA might not know that the Blue Devils have two other players who are expected to go in the Top 10, Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach.

ESPN released its latest mock draft on Tuesday, and unsurprisingly, Cooper Flagg was mocked first. Also in the draft, they had Knueppel going fourth to the Charlotte Hornets. ESPN then had Khaman Maluach going eighth to the Brooklyn Nets.

Part of what makes Khaman Maluach such an appealing prospect is his size. He is 7' 2," so although he did not score at an elite rate in his freshman season, many NBA teams and scouts believe he has the potential to be an elite player at the rim in the NBA. Only time will tell if they are right.

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Edited by Alexander O'Reilly