Manute Bol

By Paulie Knep
Love of Sports Correspondent

Manute Bol is one of the most fascinating people to ever play in the NBA, and not just because of his freakish 7-foot-7 inch, rail-thin physique.

Bol was a prankster, a hero, a tribesman, an entertainer and a humanitarian.

His childhood couldn’t have been more different than that of almost every other NBA player. Born in southeastern Sudan, he was akin to royalty, as the grandson of the Dinka tribe’s former chief. As a teenager, he killed a lion with a spear, and when he got married his family paid 40 cows to the father of his bride.

The Dinkas were known for producing tall men and women, though Bol was the extreme. His family encouraged him to play basketball, so he traveled to Khartoum to learn the game. The first time he tried to dunk he chipped his front teeth on the rim, but he kept working on his game.

Bol moved to the United States at the age of 18, with minimal command of the English language. He played one year of basketball at the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut, then declared for the NBA Draft.

NBA scouts didn’t know what to make of the African giant. He hadn’t played against top competition, wasn’t very skilled and many feared that his stick-figure frame wouldn’t hold up against NBA big men. The Washington Bullets took a chance and selected Bol in the second round of the 1985 Draft.

During his four seasons in Washington, Bol proved he wasn’t merely a sideshow. He became a defensive force, swatting shots in bunches. In his rookie season, he set the all-time NBA record for blocked shots, with 397. It was an average of just under five per game and was subsequently named to the NBA All-Defense Second Team.

In 1987, the Bullets drafted 5-foot-3 point guard Muggsy Bogues, teaming up the tallest and shortest players in the history of the league.

When Bol joined the Golden State Warriors in 1988 he was given the green light to shoot three pointers. He made 22 during his first season with the team. It was hysterical to watch the gawky giant heave a line-drive knuckleball at the basket, often from several feet behind the three-point line, but he was surprisingly effective in the Don Nelson offense.

Bol made people laugh off the court as well, developing quite the reputation as a prankster. While playing for the 76ers, he and teammate Charles Barkley played practical jokes on each other all the time. Years later, Barkley said, “I’ll tell you, he was the funniest guy I ever had the pleasure of playing with.”

Bol got the last laugh when he knocked down six three pointers for the 76ers in the second half of a game against Barkley and the Phoenix Suns in March 1993. He made sure to let his old buddy hear about it as well.

On a serious note, Barkley once commented that Bol’s transition from tribal life in Africa to a successful career in the NBA was the most impressive accomplishment of anybody he’d ever known.

After 20 years in the NBA, Bol retired due to arthritis. He’s the only player in league history to block more shots than he made and is second in career blocks-per-game average, at 3.34.

Throughout his career, he lobbied politicians and donated millions of dollars to charities supporting oppressed Christians in the war-torn Sudan. Upon retiring, he moved to Uganda and frequently visited Sudanese refugee camps while attempting to resolve the conflict in his native country. In 2001, the Sudanese government prohibited him from leaving the Sudan because he refused to convert to Islam. He eventually bought his way to freedom with the assistance of friends.

Strapped for cash, he began making a spectacle of himself in order to raise attention and money for his suffering countrymen. In 2002, he boxed William “Refrigerator” Perry. Later that year, he suited up for the Indianapolis Ice of the Central Hockey League, and he even became the world’s tallest jockey for one race in Indiana. Such exploits had to be humiliating for the proud Bol, but he endured the pain for his people.

Manute Bol is a giant of a man. He also happens to be 7-foot-7.

That’s why we’re sending him some Old School Love today.