If you read one thing today, make it the story at the end of this link.
It’s a story on Atavist that is the untold story of former NBA player Manute Bol. Henry Abbott at TrueHoop found it, and you can read an excerpt over at Sports Illustrated.
You may remember Bol as an almost cartoonish NBA figure, a 7’7” Sudanese shot blocker, a Dinka warrior. It’s partially a story about him in the NBA, how he liked to party and live the NBA life. How he and his game grew on the court (remember his jump shots?).
But more than that, it’s the story of how his life evolved, how he helped finance a rebellion in the Sudan 1980s, a rebellion that evolved into Southern Sudan becoming the world’s newest nation in July of this year. How Bol lost hundreds of family members to starvation, war and devastation in that country, how he helped do his part to change the Sudan and change that situation by helping create a new nation. How he lived to see the election that changed everything, but it in part cost him his life.
It’s great storytelling because it’s not all happy endings and good feelings. Bol had a lot of missteps, a lot of challenges. This is a no holds-bared story, not a romantic comedy.
But in the end, it’s the best thing you are going to read today. And you will get a new appreciation for Bol out of it.
