The photo shoots all his strength from the intensity of his gaze. We see a Royal Ivey passionate, screaming with his mouth wide open, while his player Carlik Jones is on the ground, diving for the ball in the hands of a Puerto Rico player.
After 40 minutes of such battles, South Sudan and its coach, a native of New York, can exult: the African country has just won the first match in its history at the Olympic Games.
” We played fast, physical, we defended. And we stopped them from getting offensive rebounds, that's how they beat us last year. They beat us in the World Cup and we had to get back at them. “, re-situates the coach, quoted by Eurohoopswho was wary of Jose Alvarado (26 points) and his ” New York toughness “.
His team was narrowly beaten in extra time in the opening round of the 2023 World Cup after conceding… 23 offensive rebounds. We understand better why the coach had this meeting in mind for a while, even speaking of a ” rematch “.
The revenge of a role player
With this victory secured, the crazy story continues for the 33rd nation in the world in the FIBA ranking, which has not stopped making headlines in recent months. And with it, its coach, propelled to the forefront as he has rarely been during his playing career.
Royal Ivey was a Major League journeyman, selected 37th overall in the 2004 Draft. He was the “strange” starting point guard for one season at the Hawks, playing only 13 minutes per game.
Despite a starving statistical production, he will make his professionalism speak to stay in the NBA for almost a decade, passing through three other teams (Sixers, Bucks and Thunder). The former “role player” has not left the league benches since.
In OKC, he found a position as an assistant, starting in 2016 alongside Billy Donovan. Then Royal Ivey returned to his native New York, to the Knicks then to the Nets, before joining the Rockets last year.
42nd “chapter” of his life
With, in addition to his position as assistant, a brilliant international career for this 42-year-old man.
” It's a movie, my life is a movie right now. I'm proud of my players, from the first to the twelfth, everyone contributed. It's so, so real, I couldn't live anything better “, he says, thanking another of the architects of the current success, Luol Deng.
Royal Ivey, who never expected to coach at the Olympics, talks about the ” 42nd chapter ” of his life, a ” incredible chapter ” for him. ” I'm here, I played in the league for ten years, and now I'm a coach, I'm the old guy. I never thought I'd be a coach. I thought I'd be a schoolteacher or run my own prep school. ” he delivers.
After having invested differently ” in youth “, he is still rewarded today: ” My whole life has been surreal. People would tell me, 'No, you can't do that. You're not fast enough, you're not smart enough…' and I keep proving people wrong, and that's the story. You can do, you can manifest anything you want in this life. It's achievable, and I'm living proof of that. »
Photo: FIBA.com
