NBA: Bol Bol, on behalf of the father

Bol Bol (C) during an NBA game against Portland, August 6, 2020. Getty Images / AFP Garrett Ellwood

Text by: Michaël Oliveira Da Costa

5 mins

Brilliant with the Denver Nuggets in the Orlando “bubble” after long months spent in the infirmary due to a foot problem, South Sudanese winger Bol Bol rekindles the flame left by his father, the legendary Manute Bol , a staple of the NBA floors for ten seasons, before his disappearance in 2010.

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Twenty-two last July. Commentators still can't believe it. For his first official game for the Denver Nuggets, Bol Bol dazzles the Washington Wizards with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 6 blocks in twenty-eight minutes of play.

From the top of his 2m18 and with a wingspan of 2m78, the African winger has an extremely rare panoply for a player of this size, and reminds the fond memories of those who had forgotten his beautiful high school seasons and at the university of 'Oregon, but also his childhood alongside his legendary father, Manute.

Son of an NBA star who became a political refugee

Bol's first years were not the easiest, despite his father's status. Born in Khartoum in 1999, Bol Bol lived his first two years in Sudan but an incident changed the course of his life. While a missile of the American army strikes the north of the country during the second Sudanese civil war, Manute Bol is accused of being a spy in the pay of the United States. The giant Dinka, his tribe of origin, has no choice: he must leave the country for fear of reprisals and flies with his family and the young Bol for Connecticut, on the American east coast.

“  I remember that basketball was not really my thing at first,  ” he still smiles today. “  I was crazy about football, and my father forced me to play basketball a bit. He came to see me one day and said: "I know how you feel, because even I, when I was your age, wanted to kick a ball. But my family, for my size, didn't care. quickly dissuaded ". He was right ! " , Still remembers Bol.

At 11, he already measures 1m92, and dominates his young buddies on the floor. The growth of the young South Sudanese does not stop, and the Bol Bol phenomenon is starting to make a name for itself during high school tournaments across the country. I was already very followed by universities, and I got my first scholarship offer at the age of 13, by the college of New Mexico State  ", recalls Bol Bol, before adding. that "it is there that I realized that I could turn professional and that I could try to follow in the footsteps of my father in the NBA  ".

Overwhelmed by university offers, Bol is spoiled for choice. He asks for advice everywhere, and the final answer will come with the help of ... Shaquille O'Neal, the former NBA star, close to the Bol family because his son, Shareef, is the best friend of the youngest of siblings from South Sudan. Shaq is like a second father to me, and one day we were talking and he told me to always follow what your heart said, and so I decided to join the University of Oregon ", specifies the African giant . The season is going perfectly well, until this January evening when Bol Bol injured his foot, and saw his university career come to an abrupt end.

A desert crossing before the light

Announced in the top 15 of the 2019 Draft, Bol Bol sees his rating drop, and some NBA scouts doubt his physical strength despite his golden hands. The interior can not make tests with the teams because of his foot injury, and falls to 44th place in the Draft. Chosen by the Miami Heat, he was traded in stride to the Denver Nuggets. “  This Draft night was a real roller coaster for me. I thought I would be selected higher, but in the end, I find myself in a franchise that bet on youth,  ”remembers the rookie.

The player, still affected in the left foot, continues the rehabilitation sessions and seeks advice from Joël Embiid, who had had the same kind of injury during his early years in the league. “  Jojo was a big help, he's my African brother. He also went through this kind of ordeal, and he told me that it would all be a bad memory when I hit the NBA floors. He was the first to text me to congratulate me when I made my first game with the Nuggets,  ”said Bol Bol.

Ten months after being selected by the Colorado-based franchise, Bol Bol walks the Orlando floor and sees the end of the tunnel. “  My first steps on an NBA floor were a huge relief. I will never forget them. I am excited for the future. I want to break everything!  », Says the player.

In the best league in the world first, then perhaps with the jersey of the South Sudan national team, whose president, former NBA player Luol Deng, would like to make it one of the centerpieces. “  I think about it and I know my father would be proud of it. He's my greatest mentor, and I don't forget where I'm from. I want to be an example for young Africans, showing them, as my father did more than twenty years ago, that anything is possible  ”.

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