The Sudan-born player's 7-foot-7-inch frame and shot-blocking prowess weren't the only things that made him stand out from his NBA peers.
by Deron Snyder
Saying that Manute Bol stood out in the NBA is an understatement, like saying Gulliver stood out among the Lilliputians. Bol, who died Saturday at the age of 47 at the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville, definitely made a distinct impression during his 10-season NBA career (1985-95). But it wasn't just his rail-thin frame, prodigious wingspan and towering height. Although those physical characteristics made him an unusual player, they alone didn't make him different from others in basketball.
It was more than being a spindly 7 feet, 7 inches tall, with the ability to extend his hand above the rim while standing flat-footed. It was more than weighing a measly 190 pounds, with an arms-stretched-wide width measuring 8 feet, 6 inches from fingertip to fingertip. And it was more than his unique background as a Sudanese cattle-herder who once killed a lion with a spear, going from never playing basketball until his late teens, to setting the NBA rookie record for blocked shots in only 26 minutes per game.
What really separated Bol from his NBA peers -- and for that matter, most professional athletes -- was his humanitarian efforts, his willingness to spend his money and risk his life for the sake of others. He was among the rare athletes, such as Arthur Ashe and Dikembe Mutombo, who absolutely dedicate themselves to something bigger than sports and their personal well-being. In Bol's case, it was the plight of the people in his native Sudan, where civil war, poverty, sickness, crime and a lack of educational opportunities was the status quo.
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