Talk:Manute Bol

Not the first African in the NBA
What about Hakeem Olajuwon? jej1997 (talk) 17:08, 16 January 2011 (UTC) This is clearly true as Hakeem Olajuwon joined the NBA in 1984. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Muyiwamc2 (talk • contribs) 22:32, 13 March 2011 (UTC)

Pituitary is not supposed to be capitalized
I'd fix it but the page is locked.

Someone needs to fix his stats.
There's not a chance that a 7'7" weighs only 250. Even a 6'7" who weights 200 would need to be pretty lean.


 * espn.com gives his weight as 225, and a 1990 SI article also mentions the 225 figure, so I'm inclined to say 225 rather than the 200 given at basketball-reference. That said his weight probably varied during his playing years, both figures could have been correct at different times.  7'7" 225lb is still freakishly thin, but look at some photos, he was freakishly thin. Jnala (talk) 10:23, 22 March 2009 (UTC)

7'7" 250 is a 21.2 body mass index. 6'7" 200 is a 22.5 body mass index. You aren't underweight until your body mass index goes under 18.5. My fiance is 5'9" 117, so he's at a 17.3 body mass index. 7'7" 250 is not impossible at all. It may seem that way in this day and age of 70% Western people being overweight or obese, but it isn't. (For the record, I'm a 5'2", 115 pound female, a 21.0 body mass index.)  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.119.67.199 (talk) 21:41, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

My bad!
Manute may be the originator of the phrase "my bad." (See blog post by Geoffrey Pullum at http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002693.html) Someone may want to do a little further research and incorporate this into the article. --Andy M. 12:53, 14 December 2005 (UTC)

I'm one of those fans that loved watching 7'6" Manute Bol drain the trey. Good luck finding a citation on it.

One Mississippi 17:46, 2 February 2007 (UTC) The phrase "my bad" was being used when I was in elementary school in the early 1980's...I do not believe it is possible Manute Bol is the originator of this phrase.

NOTE: With Bol's death on 19 June 2010, the Wiki entry for him should refer to this -- please read the excerpt below from the upenn/LanguageLog link above:

December 07, 2005 PICK-UP BASKETBALLISM REACHES IVY LEAGUE FACULTY VOCABULARY ... I would predict that "my bad" is here to stay for a while, in mainstream use, in the vocabulary of grownups. Added later, after a little help from my friends: Ken Arneson emailed me to say that he heard the phrase was first used by the Sudanese immigrant basketball player Manute Bol, believed to have been a native speaker of Dinka (a very interesting and thoroughly un-Indo-Europeanlike language of the Nilo-Saharan superfamily). Says Arneson, "I first heard the phrase here in the Bay Area when Bol joined the Golden State Warriors in 1988, when several Warriors players started using the phrase." And Ben Zimmer's rummaging in the newspaper files down in the basement of Language Log Plaza produced a couple of early 1989 quotes that confirm this convincingly: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Jan. 10, 1989: When he [Manute Bol] throws a bad pass, he'll say, "My bad" instead of "My fault," and now all the other players say the same thing. USA Today, Jan. 27, 1989: After making a bad pass, instead of saying "my fault," Manute Bol says, "my bad." Now all the other Warriors say it too. So all of this is compatible with a date of origin for the phrase in the early 1980s (Manute Bol first joined the NBA in 1985 but came to the USA before that, around 1980). .

[end excerpt] Ozzie Maland —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ozziemaland (talk • contribs) 22:16, 19 June 2010 (UTC)

No way
Manute was probably a great guy but there's no way he originated the expression "my bad". My teammates used the expression when I played high school basketball in the early 1970's. Marzolian (talk) 06:14, 22 June 2010 (UTC)

In addition: Does someone really believe that he would join the NBA in 1985 and not use that expression until 1988 or 89? The original reports sound like they came from especially naive reporters, and the professor who passed along the story clearly didn't ask anybody who played sports during the 1970's or 1980's. We can leave it as an anecdote, but I think the consensus will be eventually be that he had nothing to do with its origin, and very little with popularizing it. Marzolian (talk) 15:36, 22 June 2010 (UTC)

Celebrity Boxing
Manute Bol was on that celebrity boxing show in 2002, fighting William "Refrigerator" Perry:


 * http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0321624/

Worth a mention? SkipSmith 02:41, 7 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Um, yea... tis already mentioned. 172.130.44.98 06:09, 7 March 2007 (UTC)


 * OK, I see it now. Thanks. SkipSmith 07:29, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

"The referee goaded..." I saw the video on youtube and the referee wasn't "goading". He was frustrated that they were just circling each other around and around, and no one was throwing any punches. See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpBnZoWqt6A SlushyMix (talk) 00:56, 13 May 2020 (UTC)

Manute is the man
I was actually at his last game in Charlotte. He was knocked out of bounds - I thought he was going to end up in the upper deck with his long strides.Cooltiger92 02:04, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

When I was a kid we used to play a game called "Manute Pole." One person took one of those long poles with a net used to clean a swimming pool, and defended the basket against everyone else's shots. Good times. SkipSmith 02:34, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

New home
For those who care, Mr. Bol now lives in Olathe, Kansas. I work for a utility provider and met him.

Yes, and he has 2 bodyguards.

Thank you.

WikiProject class rating
This article was automatically assessed because at least one WikiProject had rated the article as start, and the rating on other projects was brought up to start class. BetacommandBot 15:51, 9 November 2007 (UTC)

"An encore"?
Why is this in the section headings? Bash Kash (talk) 01:49, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

His weight is too small
Avarage man height is about 170 cm. With mass 55 kg his weight vs height index is 55/1.7^2=19.03. So from 18.5 to 24.9 is OK. Now there is two ways to calculate normal Manute Bol weight... By official way, there his index is 102/2.31/2.31=19.115, which is ok then for his height. And with math model of proportional grewing, his mass should be 55*(231/170)^3=138 kg. He indeed have strong chest bones.

Manute Bol have biggest wingspan 259 cm compare with his height 231 cm. Normal human 170-175 cm tall, have wingspan of his height or few cm bigger. Manute Bol have small body and big arms and legs, he is more like spider raver than human, there noone even close to his spider looking imige. http://www.freewebs.com/nbagiants/ But his not normal wingspan just can be illusion or trick to hide his small weight. All humans including all kids have the same proportion of legs and hands with body length or size in over cases friction between legs and pelvis would be disaster. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.240.9.58 (talk) 10:48, 13 June 2010 (UTC)

Edit request from Mistertug, 19 June 2010
Manute passed away today, kidney failure.

Mistertug (talk) 18:28, 19 June 2010 (UTC)


 * Until we have a source for this, there is not a need to change the article. Please let us know when you have a good source, and we will make the change.


 * Avic enna sis @ 18:47, 19 June 2010 (UTC)
 * The Washington Post reported it about 13 minutes before that guy mentioned it. 68.45.109.136 (talk) 19:52, 19 June 2010 (UTC)

(Kitkat21 (talk) 20:33, 19 June 2010 (UTC))
 * the current article says liver failure was the cause of death, but the reference that is cited only mentions acute kidney failure and stevens johnson syndrome. Not sure where the liver failure comes from? Also, cnnsi is reporting the same (kidney failure) http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/basketball/nba/06/19/bol.obit.ap/index.html?eref=sihp

I changed it to more general wording since as commonly happens there is some conflict between sources in the initial reports. All the sources I saw supported the claim of stevens johnson synd as the underlying cause so I think we can mention that for now. FloNight&#9829;&#9829;&#9829;&#9829; 21:06, 19 June 2010 (UTC)

Edit request from Rlconrad7, 20 June 2010
No where is it mentioned that Manute Bol lived his later years in Olathe, KS (a Kansas City suburb). Verifiable via The Kansas City Star & other news sources.

Rlconrad7 (talk) 05:06, 20 June 2010 (UTC)
 * I added some information from the source that I used yesterday..."Manute Bol, former Washington Bullet and one of NBA's tallest players, dies at 47" in the Washington Post. Feel free to suggest alternative or expanded wording if you locate more detailed or better information. FloNight&#9829;&#9829;&#9829;&#9829; 19:32, 20 June 2010 (UTC)

No background given for ongoing slavery and genocide
I'm confused about some of the information in the Activism section. In addition to stating that the Sudanese government extorted money from Bol to exit the country, it's written that Simon Deng and others are/were enslaved in Sudan and that there is genocide in Darfur ongoing today, but it's not explained why.

Why are these people subjected to such evil? Who's committing this evil? It's not explained.

So much has been written about slavery that happened centuries ago and genocide that happened decades ago, you'd think that slavery and genocide going on today would merit the tiniest explication, no?Eagle in NYC (talk) 16:33, 20 June 2010 (UTC)

Addition of board position at Sudan Sunrise
Maute's advisory board position and assitance to the charity Sudan Sunrise and the building of schools by the organization should be mentioned.

During his trip to his village in January and February 2008, he made a promise to the people that he would help raise funds to build a school in the village. .

The first building were completed at the primary school in Turalei in January 2010. The second building with three additional classrooms is not complete. 7dempster (talk) 22:57, 20 June 2010 (UTC)

Can we clarify his citizenship?
He was born in Sudan, but did he become a US citizen?

-- Bob drobbs (talk) 06:01, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

Funeral
The family of Manute Bol has announced that his funeral will be held on Tuesday, June 29, 2010, at 10:00 a.m. at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. The public is invited. 7dempster (talk) 05:10, 24 June 2010 (UTC)

Wikiproject Ice hockey
The Wikiproject Ice Hockey template was apparently added to this article based on Bol's "one day contract" to play for the Indianapolis Ice. While I can see the technical reasoning behind placing Bol's article under the auspices of Wikiproject Ice Hockey it is clear that his involvement with hockey was extremely minor. I've removed the Wikiproject Ice Hockey template from the page, but if anyone feels that it is particularly important to re-add Bol to the project then I won't object. — V = IR (Talk&thinsp;•&thinsp;Contribs) 18:03, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

Edit request from 71.234.198.43, 23 February 2011
Add an image to Manute Bol's biography

71.234.198.43 (talk) 00:10, 23 February 2011 (UTC)

Not done: See next section. Qwyrxian (talk) 03:27, 23 February 2011 (UTC)

Edit request from 71.234.198.43, 23 February 2011
Add an image to Manute Bol's biography

71.234.198.43 (talk) 00:10, 23 February 2011 (UTC)

Not done: You would need to provide us with such an image. Please note that the image will need to either be free (public domain/CC-BY_SA licensed) or you will need to develop a fair-use rationale. If you have such a picture, you can go to WP:Images for upload and request that it be uploaded there. Qwyrxian (talk) 03:27, 23 February 2011 (UTC)

Field Goal
Really now? Who the fuck put "field goal" in the article?

Edit request on 21 September 2012
Manute Bol is not the only player to have more blocks than points for an NBA player. He shares that distinction with Jim Zoet (3 blocks, 2 points) and Dexter Shouse (1 block, 0 points).

Proof: http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/psl_finder.cgi?request=1&match=combined&type=totals&per_minute_base=36&lg_id=NBA&is_playoffs=N&year_min=&year_max=&franch_id=&season_start=1&season_end=-1&age_min=0&age_max=99&height_min=0&height_max=99&birth_country_is=Y&birth_country=&is_active=&is_hof=&is_as=&as_comp=gt&as_val=0&pos_is_g=Y&pos_is_gf=Y&pos_is_f=Y&pos_is_fg=Y&pos_is_fc=Y&pos_is_c=Y&pos_is_cf=Y&qual=&c1stat=g&c1comp=gt&c1val=1&c2stat=blk&c2comp=gt&c2val=1&c3stat=pts&c3comp=gt&c3val=&c4stat=&c4comp=gt&c4val=&c5stat=blk&c5comp=gt&c6mult=1.01&c6stat=pts&order_by=blkv

Hopefully someone will fix this error immediately. Some obituaries of Bol, clearly based on Wikipedia research, even assert this false claim. Thanks!

76.93.16.91 (talk) 08:22, 21 September 2012 (UTC)


 * The page is unprotected now, so you can make any needed edits yourself. Marking as answered to get it off the request list.  RudolfRed (talk) 01:41, 22 September 2012 (UTC)

Manute Bol
Your article states he went to two colleges. He attended school and played basketball in New Hampshire.

Thank you.

Rich Rollock — Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.175.166.162 (talk) 09:45, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

1983 invalid draft pick
The article states that the NBA declared his 1983 draft selection (97th overall) invalid. But why did they do that? You should expect that the NBA would investigate players as soon as they entered the draft. So I like to know why this happened! The Banner talk 09:45, 22 June 2013 (UTC)

Edit request from Martin C, 05 July 2013
The section marked 'Amateur Years' shows the words 'R.I.P Gentle Giant' at the end of them, which I presume is a vandalism. Strangely however, the words don't appear when I try to edit the page, either by section or by page. Can someone find and remove this? 163.8.84.68 (talk) 07:46, 5 July 2013 (UTC)
 * It looks like an anti-vandalism bot was there quicker to remove it than you were. The Banner talk 08:51, 5 July 2013 (UTC)

Bol Bol
I updated height and basketball status of Bol Bol in the "death" section of the article with a cite that is nearly 3 years more recent. I do not know how to do citations, though, so here's the link, if someone could be so kind. http://usatodayhss.com/2014/manute-bols-son-bol-bol-is-dominating-jv-hoops-in-kansas Jknjwrites (talk) 16:08, 21 February 2015 (UTC)


 * Done. Thanks for your contribution. - Bossanoven (talk) 17:54, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

Driver under the influence.
The driver of the cab was under the influence!, Influence of what? is this drunken driving or cocaine or ? . Bobby shabangu   talk  09:44, 1 August 2015 (UTC)

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Semi-protected edit request on 18 March 2019
212.5.158.82 (talk) 19:40, 18 March 2019 (UTC)
 * Red question icon with gradient background.svg Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. NiciVampireHeart 06:05, 19 March 2019 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 16 April 2019
Edit request — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:404:c77f:9c01:31c4:6f28:b489:3790 (talk) 03:49, 16 April 2019 (UTC)


 * Red question icon with gradient background.svg Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate.Hi IP 2601:404:c77f:9c01:31c4:6f28:b489:3790. If you would like to propose a change to the article, please just don't copy and paste the article onto this talk page. Not only will doing this kind of thing likely violate various Wikipedia policies and guidelines on image use and copyright content (see Wikipedia:Copying text from other sources), it also almost ensures that no editor is going to be willing to spend any time or energy to try and figure out what you're requesting. The best requests tend to be short and specific where it's clear what is being requested. Please refer to Wikipedia:Edit requests for more information on this. -- Marchjuly (talk) 00:43, 17 April 2019 (UTC)

Birthday?

His birthday is listed as October 16, 1962 in multiple places. Why isn't it put up here? Kb5694 (talk) 20:33, 27 May 2019 (UTC)

Height Inaccuracy
Bol was listed as 7’7” for his entire career and later measured at 7’6.5” by The Guinness Book of World Record. You should either list the exact height or round up a quarter of an inch to 7’7”, not just ignore the three quarters of an inch. I’d make the changes if I could, but the great Manute Bol’s page is deservingly protected, barring mere peons like myself from making changes. -My our heavenly father smile upon you all Robrayfl (talk) 07:38, 20 May 2020 (UTC)
 * As you can see, hist height of 7’6” is sourced. We follow the sources. The Banner  talk 10:47, 20 May 2020 (UTC)
 * It’s not that simple, though. Equally official NBA sources (such as the 2000 NBA Encyclopedia) listed Bol at 7’7”. Zagal e jo^^^ 16:18, 20 June 2020 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 24 May 2020
Manute Bol was listed at 7’7” for his entire NBA career and is listed at that height on databases like https://www.basketball-reference.com/, the source used on almost every NBA Wikipedia page. After his playing days, Bol was measured at 7’6.75” by Guinness World Records. He should either be listed at the more precise height of 7’6.75” or bumped a quarter inch to 7’7”. There’s no reason to simply ignore those three quarters of an inch. Robrayfl (talk) 08:35, 24 May 2020 (UTC)


 * ❌. The NBA listing gives 7'6", which is what's in the infobox. Later in the article, the Guinness measurement is described as well. –Deacon Vorbis (carbon &bull; videos) 15:02, 24 May 2020 (UTC)

Manute Bol's listed height
Please contribute to this discussion on the List of tallest players in National Basketball Association history talk page. Thanks, Rodney Baggins (talk) 13:02, 26 May 2020 (UTC)

How tall manute ball was
Manute bol the tallest nba player ever at his height of 9 foot 2 100.2.87.156 (talk) 03:20, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

Note on Birthday
Since Bol's birthday was chosen for him at college, and he was suspected to be much older, should a note be put in the infobox on this page that his birthday is [unconfirmed] or words to that effect? 2.100.82.151 (talk) 22:55, 7 July 2022 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 18 September 2022
Detroit rapper Babytron made a song named after Manute Bol on his album “Megatron” in 2022. 184.170.180.240 (talk) 12:05, 18 September 2022 (UTC) 184.170.180.240 (talk) 12:05, 18 September 2022 (UTC)

Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. Polyamorph (talk) 07:32, 1 October 2022 (UTC)

Babytron - Manute Bol
Under Influences, the song Manute Bol by Babytron should be referenced, due to the tracks name being centered around Bol. 2A01:4C8:68:723F:6105:F2B4:4BDF:5561 (talk) 17:57, 8 February 2023 (UTC)

Birth date and year
The article clearly establishes that Bol's birth date and year were unknown. On that basis, I have removed references to his listed date of birth--October 16, 1962 (which the article states was completely fictitious)--from the infobox and the lead. I have also removed his age at death, which cannot be known given that his date of birth is unknown. MonMothma (talk) 03:11, 6 February 2024 (UTC)