Remembering Manute Bol

Former NBA star Manute Bol died Sunday of kidney failure. He was 47. The 7 foot 7 Sudanese native was a shot blocking specialist, a prolific humanitarian, and for several years was a fixture in West Hartford where lived after escaping his native country. WNPR's  Ray Hardman has this remembrance:

Bol played only one year of  basketball at the University of Bridgeport, where his shot blocking abilities catapulted him to the NBA. He became one of the greatest shot blockers in NBA history. But Bol's humanitarian efforts in his native Sudan eclipse any of his accomplishments on the basketball court. He gave away most of the millions he earned playing basketball helping victims of Sudan's long running civil war.

After fleeing his own country in 2002, he and his family moved to West Hartford, where he continued his humanitarian efforts. Bol was not above using gimmicky publicity stunts, like taking a one day contract with the Indianapolis Ice of the USHL Hockey League, and fighting former NFL player William "Refrigerator" Perry on Fox television's Celebrity Boxing, to bring attention to the worsening situation in Sudan.

When I interviewed Bol in 2002, he had hoped to return to the NBA as a shot blocking coach or scout. But that was never to be. Bol was seriously injured in a 2004 taxi cab accident on Rte. 2. After Bol moved to Kansas in 2007, his health continued to decline. Bol died of kidney failure at the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville. He was 47.

For WNPR, I'm Ray Hardman.