Manute Bol was born to Madute and Okwok Bol in Turalei or Gogrial, Sudan (now South Sudan) and raised near Gogrial. Bol's father, a Dinka tribal elder, gave him the name Manute, which means "special blessing". Bol had no formal record of his birthdate.
Bol came from a family of extraordinarily tall men and women. "My mother was 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m), my father 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m), and my sister is 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)", he said. "And my great-grandfather was even taller—7 ft 10 in (2.39 m)." His ethnic group, the Dinka, and the Nilotic people of which they are a part, are among the tallest populations in the world. Bol's hometown, Turalei, is the origin of other exceptionally tall people, including 7 ft 4 in (2.24 m) basketball player Ring Ayuel. "I was born in a village, where you cannot measure yourself," Bol reflected. "I learned I was 7 foot 7 in 1979, when I was grown. I was about 18 or 19."
Bol started playing soccer in 1972 but abandoned the game because he was too tall. During his later teens, Bol started playing basketball in Sudan, for several years with teams in Wau and Khartoum, where he experienced prejudice from the northern Sudanese majority.
Bol had six children with his first wife, Along, and four with his second wife, Ajok.Bol's son Madut (born December 19, 1989) played college basketball at Southern University and graduated in 2013.[58] Another son, Bol Bol (born November 16, 1999), played for the Oregon Ducks in 2018–19. Bol Bol declared for the 2019 NBA draft and was taken 44th overall by the Miami Heat. He was subsequently traded to the Denver Nuggets.
The Washington Bullets drafted Manute Bol with the No. 31 overall selection in the 1985 NBA draft. Although he was an early-round pick, initial expectations weren’t high for the 7-foot-7 Bol simply because of his size.
He weighed just 180 pounds when he arrived in the U.S. just a couple of years earlier. Bol played for 10 seasons in the NBA with four different teams. His length always presented challenges to opposing offenses in the middle as he was regularly among the league leaders in blocks. He retired after the 1994-95 season and still holds multiple records, including highest career blocks per 48 minutes (8.6), second in career blocks-per-game average (3.34), 16th in total blocked shots (2,086), and the only player in NBA history to have more blocked shots than points scored.
Bol Bol, In his freshman season with head coach Dana Altman, Bol made an impressive debut with a double-double scoring 12 points and adding 12 rebounds in just 23 minutes. He also added the trademark Bol statistic with three blocks. Bol had a season-high 32 points and 11 rebounds in a loss to Texas Southern, followed by a 20-point, nine-rebound, three-block performance against San Diego. On December 12, Bol broke his left foot and was out of the season. After his freshman year ended, he declared for the NBA draft.
Bol played in just eight G-League games before the sports world shut down. Since arriving in Orlando, there was quite a bit of buzz that Bol had looked impressive in workouts with the Nuggets. On Wednesday night, he made his NBA debut, and it’s something his father, who passed away 10 years ago, would have been most proud.
Denver Nuggets center Bol Bol , 7-2 big man signed a two-way contract with the Nuggets, but spent the 2019-20 season in the G League with the Windy City Bulls. but the timing of the drug test came at a very interesting time.
Bol Bol saw his first action of the 2019-20 season in Wednesday's scrimmage against the Washington Wizards and he didn't disappoint. Bol scored 16 points on 6-of-14 shooting, grabbed 10 rebounds, and registered six blocks. His reward for this performance, according to Mike Singer of the Denver Post? A scheduled random drug test following the game.
Bol was all over the floor throughout Denver's 89-82 victory. His state line also included a pair of shots from three. He was originally slated to be a lottery pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, but ended up sliding into the second round due to a foot injury that he suffered while he was at Oregon.