After selling-off his local possessions, and helped by a campaign that included the Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman, he eventually flew to Egypt, and in 2002 was granted refugee status in the US. He was then accused of of being a US spy, and denied an exit visa.
On a 2001 visit to Sudan, he declined the offer of a post as minister for sport, because it required him to convert to Islam. After his retirement his efforts became more public, which made him a marked man. He returned regularly to the country during his playing days, and spent most of the estimated $10 million he earned in the NBA. In 1990 he moved on to three seasons in Philadelphia.īol estimated that some 250 of his relatives had been killed in the conflict in Sudan. Bol's flat-footed slingshot release and surprising accuracy became a crowd favourite. Lack of bulk made Bol a liability on offense, but in 1988 he moved to San Francisco's Golden State Warriors, where coach Don Nelson simply moved him out on the perimeter, as Bol had done in the playgrounds, allowing him to attempt extra-long three point shots as a final option. In 1987, the Bullets drafted Tyrone "Muggsy" Bogues, at 5ft 3in the shortest player in NBA history, and for a season the pair were the delight of photo editors around the country. The Washington Bullets chose him in the second round of the NBA draft, and his 397 blocked shots, an average of five per game, set a rookie record that still stands.
#Manute bol wingspan pro#
According to a friend of mine who played in friendly pick-up games with him on local courts, Bol would play as a guard, away from the basket, so as not to disrupt the game his game and adjustment to America improved rapidly.īol played only the 1984-85 season with UB, before turning pro with the minor league Rhode Island Gulls, where he blocked 84 shots in only six games. Meanwhile Mackey's funding of expenses, travel, and college fees for Bol and two other Africans caused Cleveland State to be placed on probation, and Bol wound up at the University of Bridgeport, a Division II school in Connecticut.