Loss of The Gentle Giant: A Tribute to Manute Bol
When it came to being tall, no one did it much better than Manute Bol. More importantly though was when it came to being an all-around genuine person and humanitarian, no one did it better than Manute Bol. The NBA has lost one of it's most beloved players in history in Bol earlier today at the age of 47 due to kidney failure and a deadly skin condition called Stevens-Johnson syndrome.
Manute Bol was discovered in his home country of Sudan by a Fairleigh Dickinson assistant coach, and was immediately convinced to come play basketball in the United States after playing for several teams in the Sudan. At 7'7" and 225 pounds, there was an easy possibility that he could see some action at the professional level in the NBA. He attended the University of Bridgeport where he averaged 23 points, 14 rebounds, and seven blocks in his lone season in the college ranks.
Bol was selected in the second round with the seventh pick by the Washington Bullets in the 1985 draft, and became the tallest player to ever step foot on an NBA floor before being beat out by centimeters by Gheorge Muresan a few years down the road. Despite only starting 60 games in his rookie year, he led the league in blocks with five per game. He averaged less than four points per game, but it was his imposing frame in the middle that gave opponents fits in the paint. In the postseason, he averaged nearly six blocks per game. He was given all-second defensive team honors for his accolades and finished 10th in Defensive Player of the Year voting.
Bol would play three seasons for the Bullets before being traded to the Golden State Warriors in the 1988 season. He would form a close relationship with Chris Mullin in his short time there. It was with the Warriors that he began to shoot three-pointers and surprisingly do well at it. He attempted 91 and converted 20 while averaging four blocks, which led the league. He played two seasons with the Warriors before being traded to the Philadelphia 76ers.
He would play three seasons for the 76ers, but saw his production simmer as his blocks per game drop from four to three to two in his final season with Philly. His points per game dropped below two. For the span of the 1993 season, he would be signed by the Miami Heat and released four months later, sign a 10-day contract with the Bullets, and signing another 10-day contract with the Warriors, before eventually signing as a free agent with Golden State and ending his career on Feb. 15, 1995 when he was waived.
He ended his career second in blocks per game with 3.34, 14th in total blocks, holding the rookie record of blocks in a game with 15, and tying the record of blocks in one half with eight.
With the money he made over his eight year career, he was able to establish the Ring True Foundation which helps refugees in his native country of Sudan. Nearly all of his money was given to charities and funding, and even went as far as playing in a Central Hockey League game, being a horse jockey to raise money for children in Sudan, and fighting William "The Refrigerator" Perry in celebrity boxing in order to help out his foundation.
Bol's humanitarian work is by far the most any athlete has done for a cause, and for that he should be regarded as a hero to not only the country of Sudan but to everyone else. He will be remembered forever as the gentle giant with not only the big body, but the big heart that lied underneath.
