Manute Bol

Bol is the only NBA player to retire with more career blocked shots than points scored. As of 2020, he ranked second in NBA history in blocked shots per game and 16th in total blocked shots.

Bol and Gheorghe Mureșan are the two tallest players in the history of the National Basketball Association. During his NBA career, Bol was listed at 7 ft 7 in (2.31 m) tall. He was measured by the Guinness Book of World Records at 7 ft 6 ​⁄4  in tall. Complementing his great height, Bol had exceptionally long limbs (inseam 49 inches (120 cm)) and large hands and feet (size 16 1/2 ). His arm span, at 8 feet 6 inches (2.59 m), is (as of 2013) the longest in NBA history, and his upward reach was 10 feet 5 inches (3.18 m). He was extremely slender, limiting his offensive capability.

Bol came from a family of extraordinarily tall men and women. "My mother was 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m), my father 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m), and my sister is 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)", he said. "And my great-grandfather was even taller—7 ft 10 in (2.39 m)." His ethnic group, the Dinka, and the Nilotic people of which they are a part, are among the tallest populations in the world. Bol's hometown, Turalei, is the origin of other exceptionally tall people, including 7 ft 4 in (2.24 m) basketball player Ring Ayuel. "I was born in a village, where you cannot measure yourself," Bol reflected. "I learned I was 7 foot 7 in 1979, when I was grown. I was about 18 or 19."

Sudan Sunrise founder Tom Prichard said that Bol's work to reconcile former enemies lives on. "Manute's legacy and vision of education and reconciliation, his determination to grow grassroots reconciliation—whether that reconciliation is expressed in a country that divides or holds together, wherever the boundary lines are drawn. Manute stood for grassroots reconciliation." He added, "There's no question Manute gave his life for his country."

On June 19, 2010, Bol died from acute kidney failure and complications from Stevens–Johnson syndrome at the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville, Virginia. He is buried in South Sudan.

Bol's memorial service was held on June 29, 2010, at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, DC. His body lay in an eight-foot-long, specially-built casket.

Bol was involved in the April 2006 Sudan Freedom Walk, a three-week march from the United Nations building in New York City to the United States Capitol in Washington, DC. The event was organized by Simon Deng, a former Sudanese swimming champion who was a longtime friend of Bol's. Deng, was enslaved from age 9 to 12, is from another tribe in Southern Sudan. His Sudan Freedom Walk focused on finding a solution to the genocide in Darfur (western Sudan) but also sought to raise awareness of the modern-day slavery and human-rights abuses throughout Sudan. Bol spoke in New York City at the start of the walk, and in Philadelphia at a rally organized by former hunger striker Nathan Kleinman.

Bol was also an advocate for reconciliation efforts, and worked to improve education in South Sudan. A Nicholas Kristof article in The New York Times highlighted Bol's work for reconciliation and education with an organization called Sudan Sunrise. Bol first began working with Sudan Sunrise to raise awareness on issues of reconciliation in 2005. This included speaking at the United States Capitol and subsequently partnering with Sudan Sunrise to build schools across South Sudan that, in the spirit of reconciliation, would enroll students regardless of tribe or religion.

In July 2004, Bol was seriously injured in a car accident in Colchester, Connecticut; he was ejected from a taxi that hit a guardrail and overturned, resulting in a broken neck. The driver was under the influence, with a suspended license. Because his fortunes were mostly donated to Sudan, he was financially ruined because he had no health insurance. When he recovered from his injuries, he moved to Olathe, Kansas.

Later, the Sudanese government hindered Bol from leaving the country, accusing him of supporting the Dinka-led Christian rebels, the Sudan People's Liberation Army. It refused to grant him an exit visa unless he came back with more money. Assistance from supporters in the United States, including Senator Joseph Lieberman, raised money to provide Bol with plane tickets to Cairo, Egypt. After six months of negotiations with U.S. consulate officials regarding refugee status, Bol and his family were finally able to leave Egypt and return to the United States. He was admitted to the United States as a religious refugee in 2002 and settled in West Hartford, Connecticut.

Bol established the Ring True Foundation to continue fund-raising for Sudanese refugees. He gave most of his earnings (an estimated $3.5 million) to their cause. In 2002 Fox TV agreed to broadcast the foundation's phone number in exchange for Bol's agreement to appear on their Celebrity Boxing show. After the referee goaded, "If you guys don't box, you won't get paid", he scored a third-round victory over former football player William "The Refrigerator" Perry.

In the fall of 2002, Bol signed a one-day contract with the Indianapolis Ice of the Central Hockey League. Though he could not skate, the publicity generated by his single-game appearance helped raise money to assist children in Sudan. Bol once suited up as a horse jockey for similar reasons.

Bol frequently visited Sudanese refugee camps, where he was treated like royalty. In 2001 the Sudanese government offered him the post of minister of sport. Bol, a Christian, refused because one of the conditions was converting to Islam.

Bol played professionally in Italy in 1997 and Qatar in 1998 before rheumatism forced him to retire permanently.

In 1996 the Portland Mountain Cats of the United States Basketball League announced that Bol would be playing with the team, but he never appeared in uniform. The Mountain Cats' coach was Kevin Mackey.

Bol was waived by Golden State on February 15, 1995.

Bol played 22 games for the Florida Beach Dogs of the Continental Basketball Association during the 1995–96 season under Coach Eric Musselman. The Beach Dogs' games against the Sioux Falls Skyforce that season were broadcast by ESPN, as the Skyforce also featured a former NBA player, Darryl Dawkins.

In the 1994–95 NBA season Bol returned to the Warriors. He made the season-opening roster and played his last five NBA games. On a memorable mid-November night Bol finally made his home debut, coming off of the bench to play 29 minutes against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He attempted three three-pointers in the fourth quarter and made them all. Seven nights later in Charlotte, in a game nationally televised by TNT, he was in the starting lineup again. By this time, two weeks into the season, his career seemed rejuvenated under Warrior head coach Don Nelson; he was again a defensive force, making threes and contributing as a starter to create matchup problems. After playing only ten minutes against the Hornets on November 22, 1994, he suffered a season-ending knee injury. Before he left the game, he recorded one block and two points and attempted a three-pointer in ten minutes of play.

Released by Philadelphia, Bol played in eight games in the 1993–94 season with the Miami Heat, the only team that did not use him as a starter. He scored only one two-point field goal with the team and blocked six shots in 61 total minutes.

Released by Miami, Bol's second stint with the Bullets lasted only two games in 1993–94. After that, he helped develop fellow 7 ft 7 teammate Gheorghe Mureșan.

After his release by Miami, Bol's second stint with the 76ers lasted four games, near the end of the 1993–94 season, helping to mentor 7 ft 6 in (2.29 m) teammate Shawn Bradley. In only 49 minutes he played more aggressively than he did earlier in the season with Miami and Washington. He scored six points, grabbed six rebounds and blocked nine shots.

With his great height and very long limbs, Bol was one of the NBA's most imposing defensive presences. Along with setting the rookie shot-blocking record in 1985–86, Bol later tied the NBA record for most blocked shots in one half (11) and in one quarter (eight, twice). On January 31, 1992 , in a game against the Orlando Magic, he blocked four consecutive shots in a single possession. On average, he blocked one shot per every 5.6 minutes of playing time.

On August 1, 1990, Golden State traded Bol to the Philadelphia 76ers for a 1991 1st-round draft pick (Chris Gatling was later selected).

Bol's first tenure with the Philadelphia 76ers lasted three seasons, from 1990 to 1993. He played a career-high 82 games in his first season as a 76er, but his production began to decline afterward (in both games played and per-game statistics). After playing in all 82 games in 1990–91, he played in 71 games the next season, and in 58 (a career low at the time) games the following season. During his last season in Philadelphia, he had a memorable night playing against former teammate Charles Barkley and the Phoenix Suns, hitting 6 of 12 three-pointers, all in the second half in a losing effort. Fans were known to yell "shoot" as soon as Bol received the ball far from the basket.

Bol had six children with his first wife, Along, and four with his second wife, Ajok. Bol's son Madut (born December 19, 1989) played college basketball at Southern University and graduated in 2013. Another son, Bol Bol (born November 16, 1999), played for the Oregon Ducks in 2018–19. Bol Bol declared for the 2019 NBA draft and was taken 44th overall by the Miami Heat. He was subsequently traded to the Denver Nuggets.

On June 8, 1988, Bol was traded by the Bullets to the Golden State Warriors for Dave Feitl and a 1989 2nd-round draft pick (Doug Roth was later selected).

Bol's first tenure with the Warriors lasted two seasons, from 1988 to 1990. In his first season with Golden State, he attempted three-point shots with regularity. In that season he attempted a career-high 91 three-pointers and made 20 of them. During this time, he may have helped to popularize the expression "my bad", although a 2005 suggestion that he coined the phrase has been discounted.

When he arrived in the United States, Bol weighed 180 pounds (82 kg) and had gained just under 20 pounds (9.1 kg) by the time he entered the NBA. The Bullets sent Bol to strength training with University of Maryland coach Frank Costello, where he could initially lift only 44 pounds (20 kg) on 10-repetition bench press and 55 pounds (25 kg) on 10-repetition squat (his body mass index was 15.3 and he initially had a 31" (80 cm) waist). In 1987, the Bullets drafted the 5 ft 3 in (1.60 m) point guard Muggsy Bogues, pairing the tallest and shortest players in the league on the court for one season.

After playing college basketball at the University of Bridgeport, Bol was chosen by the Washington Bullets in the 1985 NBA Draft. Bol played for the Bullets and three other teams over the course of his NBA career, which lasted from 1985 to 1995. A center, Bol was considered among the best shot-blockers in the history of the sport; however, other aspects of his game were considered below average.

Bol turned professional in May 1985, signing with the Rhode Island Gulls of the spring United States Basketball League. Going into the 1985 NBA draft, scouts believed that Bol needed another year or two of college, but Bol opted for the draft because he felt it was the only way to earn enough money to get his sister out of Sudan, which was in a state of political unrest at the time. In 1985, the Washington Bullets drafted Bol as the seventh pick in the second round (31st overall). He played in the NBA for ten seasons, from 1985 to 1995, spending parts of four seasons with the Bullets, parts of three with the Golden State Warriors, parts of four with the Philadelphia 76ers, and part of one with the Miami Heat.

Bol's first tenure with the Bullets lasted three seasons, from 1985 to 1988. In his rookie season (1985–1986), he appeared in 80 games and recorded a career-high 5.0 blocks per game. His total of 397 blocks set the NBA rookie record and remains the second-highest single-season total in league history, behind Mark Eaton's 456 in 1984–85.

With the NCAA questioning his eligibility for NCAA Division I basketball, Bol enrolled at the University of Bridgeport, an NCAA Division II school with an English program for foreign students. There he played for the Purple Knights in the 1984–85 season. His coach was Bruce Webster, a friend of Feeley. Bol averaged 22.5 points, 13.5 rebounds, and 7.1 blocks per game for Bridgeport. The team, which previously drew 500–600 spectators, routinely sold out the 1,800-seat gym. With Bol, Bridgeport qualified for the 1985 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament.

Again with Feeley's influence, Bol declared his intention to play professionally in the NBA. The Los Angeles Clippers drafted him in the fifth round of the 1983 NBA draft (97th overall). Clippers Coach Jim Lynam received a call about Bol from Feeley, whom he knew from coaching circles. "So, I said, 'Have you told anyone else about this?'", Lynam recalled. "Feeley said the only one in the NBA he had called was Frank Layden at Utah. He said Frank said he couldn't take another big guy like this. He already had Mark Eaton. I was the second guy Feeley had called. I told him he didn't have to call anyone else."

After the June 1983 draft, Lynam traveled to Cleveland and watched Bol play pickup games. In speaking with Bol, through a fellow Sudanese player, Lynam learned that he had become hesitant about playing professionally because he did not know the language well enough to understand coaches. Lynam said, "One of the things everyone was looking at was his passport. His passport said he was 19 years old. His passport also said he was five feet two." When Lynam asked Bol about the discrepancy between his real height and his passport height, Bol said he had been sitting down when measured by Sudan officials.

Coach Don Feeley, formerly the basketball coach at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey, traveled to Sudan to coach and held clinics for the Sudanese national team in 1982. Feeley eventually convinced Bol to go to the United States and play basketball.

Bol started playing soccer in 1972 but abandoned the game because he was too tall. During his later teens, Bol started playing basketball in Sudan, for several years with teams in Wau and Khartoum, where he experienced prejudice from the northern Sudanese majority.

Manute Bol (/m ə ˈ n uː t ˈ b oʊ l / ; b. October 16, 1962 d. June 19, 2010) was a Sudanese-born American basketball player and political activist. Listed at 7 ft 6 in (2.29 m) tall, Bol was one of the tallest players in the history of the National Basketball Association.

With Feeley's input, Bol first landed in Cleveland. According to Cleveland State University basketball coach Kevin Mackey, Bol could not provide a record of his birth date. Mackey listed it as October 16, 1962 on Cleveland State documents, but believed Bol was actually much older. Bol did not speak or write English at the time of his arrival in Cleveland. He improved his English skills after months of classes at ELS Language Centers at Case Western Reserve University, but not enough to qualify for enrollment at Cleveland State. Bol never played a game for Cleveland State. (Five years later, Cleveland State was placed on two years' probation for providing improper financial assistance to Bol and two other African players.)