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Shame on sport His knees shot, Manute Bol is no longer a commodity
There have been sightings of Manute Bol recently. Stories have appeared -- in The New York Times, in Sports Illustrated, on the Associated Press -- first about how the slender 7-foot-7 former NBA center was living back in the Sudan in Khartoum and then about how he had moved to Cairo, Egypt, looking to get a visa to return to the United States. The stories were sad, implying that he was broke and that he was having great problems getting a visa. His situation sounded like a mess. In 1993, I wrote a book about Manute. It sold about seven copies and disappeared from the shelves in about a nanosecond, but that was beside the point. I was -- and still am -- captured by the tale of this guy, by how he came from the true jungle of thatched huts and loin cloths, of lions and giraffes, and was able to function in civilized society. He didn't know how to hold a pencil, much less read, when he came to the United States. His passport was his great height. He was a commodity. He was an ungainly basketball weapon. Doors that were closed for the literal millions of Dinka tribesmen killed during Sudan's perpetual civil war were open for Manute. Corners were cut. He was the ultimate example of what sport can do for someone if someone can do something for sport. Now, alas, he no longer is a commodity. His knees are shot. His career is finished. He can no longer do something for sport, and, that's right, sport apparently can no longer do something for Manute. Shame on sport. Leigh Montville's commentaries appear regularly on CNN/Sports Illustrated. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer.
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