By Pete Williams

I was sad to learn about the death of Manute Bol over the weekend at the age of 47. It’s tough to use the words “sad” and “Manute Bol” in the same sentence because the man brought so much joy.

Given the humanitarian work he performed after his NBA career in his native Sudan, it seems trivial to ponder the impact he had in professional basketball. But for those of us who suffered through the miserable decade of 1980s Washington Bullets basketball, an era that continues to the present day, Manute Bol was a welcome relief.

He stood 7-foot-6 with a wingspan that seemed longer. During his rookie season of 1985-86, he blocked an NBA record 396 shots. There was one game against the Milwaukee Bucks that season where he blocked something like 18 shots. On one possession, he blocked three or four Bucks’ shots. (He had not figured out how to deflect a shot toward one of his own teammates.) I can still see Don Nelson, the Bucks coach at the time, pulling his hair out as he stomped along the sidelines.

Manute Bol was unstoppable that season. Mel Proctor was the TV announcer for the Bullets at the time. I’ve never heard a more excited play-by-play guy than Mel during Manute’s first few games.

Moncrief drives the lane…BLOCKED BY BOL!…kicked out to Terry Cummings, short jumper…BLOCKED BY BOL!!…Mokeski down low – NO! BLOCKED BY BOLLLLL!

Bol was the tallest man ever to play in the NBA at the time, which became more evident two years later when the Bullets drafted Tyrone “Muggsy” Bogues, at 5-foot-3 the shortest ever.

The Bullets, then as now as the Wizards, were a notoriously cheap, horribly run franchise. But they had the greatest sports giveaway ever: the Manute Bol growth poster.

Kids could measure their growth against Bol, but the poster was more than that. It was 12 feet high and about six feet wide. It pictured a life-sized image of Bol with his arms stretched out, standing below a backboard. I tacked one up in my room, somehow without assistance. Since the ceiling was just eight feet high, I folded the poster where wall met ceiling and tacked the backboard to the ceiling. (I can’t believe I can’t find a picture of this poster online.)

I kicked myself a few years ago when the people at Fathead came up with their life-sized wall decals of sports figures. After looking at the Manute poster on my wall (and ceiling) throughout high school, why didn’t I think of that?

It might seem intimidating having a life-size image of a giant Dinka tribesman posted in the middle of your bedroom. Actually, it always made me smile.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 21st, 2010 at 11:23 am and is filed under Sports Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.