Whilst the world is locked down during the coronavirus pandemic, two British basketball stars, Luol Deng and Pops Mensah-Bonsu, set up a series of live discussions, hosted on Instagram Live, and have granted us permission to repost on the Hoopsfix podcast feed.In Episode 6, aired on April 13th 2020, it was the one we've all been waiting for, as they spoke about British Basketball, the Great Britain set up in the run up to the London 2012 Olympics, and more.Hear from the duo on:The build up to London 2012, helping the GB program rise through the ranksHaving to earn their spot at the London 2012 Olympics, and not qualifying automatically as the host nation unlike every other sportThe issues around insuring Luol Deng's contract to play for the national teamSome of the experiences on the road around Europe and the more precarious situationsHow they fed off each other as leaders of the GB teamWhen their relationship with the programme started going downhillTheir regrets about not voicing opinions on lack of coaching staff from the inner citiesHow they felt too many staff involved with the program were there for the money and not the loveHow they felt the Olympics was a huge opportunity to change the game in the countryTheir frustrations around funding of the programme from UK SportNot being involved in the decision making and not feeling like their voices were being heardLuol asking GB to be a part of his camp and them not ever getting involvedHow Pops got rejected from an application to be on the Basketball England board for not being qualifiedWhat Jimmy Rogers taught Luol Deng about lifeJoe White's training regime with PopsLuol's frustration with the cost of facility-hire in LondonHow they both want to see British basketball growThe process of hiring an agentPops being regularly recognised as football player Yaya ToureFacing off against Team USA in Manchester, and what happened when they saw Kobe out the night before the gameWhat they would do to build British basketballWhat their workout regimes looked like as prosExperiences at the London 2012 Olympics and being in the Olympic VillageThe sacrifices they have made for the gameAnd much, much more!Follow @LuolDeng9 and @PopsMBonsu on Instagram.The show has been approved on iTunes – find it here and please subscribe to automatically receive new episodes straight to your phone/computer/tablet – if you could give us a review/rating it would be much appreciated to help the podcast spread far and wide, meanwhile it is also on Spotify here, Overcast, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts.You can support Hoopsfix's work in helping to grow British basketball on Patreon.

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