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Manute Bol
Photograph via Wikimedia Commons
Sport Landmark

Manute Bol

1962 – 2010

NBA shot-blocker who gave his fortune to his country

Landmark is level 2 of 4 in the South Sudan Hall of Fame: a first that opened a door, or the pre-eminent figure of their generation in this country. See how the levels work.

Why they are here

One of the two tallest players in NBA history and among its finest shot-blockers, he is thought to have given away almost all of his career earnings to help people displaced by Sudan's wars.

Born at Turalei, in what was then Sudan and is now South Sudan, Bol spent ten seasons in the NBA between 1985 and 1995. Listed at around seven feet six, he was one of the two tallest players ever to play in the league and one of its best shot-blockers.

He is thought to have donated most of his roughly $3.8 million in career earnings to relief work in Sudan, and campaigned publicly on the war there. He died in June 2010.
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