When I first caught the end of the promo to this I thought "wtf?" Watching it now, I'm amazed I didn't know about this stuff before. I feel bad for making fun of him for being on Celeb Boxing and playing Hockey. He gave away most of his money to help refugees from southern Sudan. When his career was over, Sudan wanted to make him the minister of sport, but he had to convert to Islam. When he wouldn't, he was basically put under house arrest. He was finally able to flee when he threatened to call the BBC and let them know what was going on. From there he went to Egypt with his half sister who's mother had recently been killed, but since he had no documentation to prove he was her guardian, the embassy had to get her refugee status, but that would take 3 months. Everything was going fine until 9-11 happened and everything shut down. So he's destitute and stuck in Egypt, a black christian in a muslim country right after 9-11, he was beat up quite a bit and thrown into jail when somebody accused him of assault. All of the money from the Celeb Boxing went to help people in Sudan, and he was well aware the joke was supposed to be on him, but he didn't care. Right now, he's rehabbing from that car accident he was in and basically living on help from others. He's still an upbeat and positive guy. I wish him the best and I'm sorry I ever though anything bad about the guy. He could have lived a comfortable life here in America with the money he made, but he gave it all away.
Wow, I had no idea, either. Sounds like he's one tough mother. Good to know that Manute can't be kept down!
i heard about all that has happened to manute and was terribly shocked and upset. a guy who kept trying to do all the right things but kept getting screwed. i heard earlier in the season some of the former teammates of manute (notebly chris mullen) and other former players contributed money to manute to help his rehab and his charity work
The NBA and players union need to step up and help the guys like him... we need to research if he has a fund that we can contribute to.
Maybe the Rox can give him a coaching position teaching Yao to shoot 3's. Seriously though I hope things work out for him.
doesn't he get NBA retirement? he was in the league for a while so it seems like he should get something.
Yeah, it would be interesting to see what benefits he still gets. Either way they aren't going to be enough to get him through his recent troubles. I think it's pretty sad no one from the NBA has stepped up to help him out more.
You would think Barkley might. They were teammates in Philly, weren't they? He'd probably rather spend his money in Vegas. To be honest, I thought Bol was dead. I could have sworn he died in that accident. I'm glad to hear he's not.
He's always been straight. People have always made fun of him and trashed him at times, but the man has a big heart. Deke is another guy with a big heart, (i'd like to see his BTG) these guys will always have my support no matter what. If anyone finds where we may contribute please post it
Wasn't it Manute that wanted to bring his kids over here to take them away from the conditions there, but he was having a hell of a time doing so? I remember reading about all the stuff he was going through a couple of years ago. Talk about a wake up.
You'd think that some players would step up to help the guy out. I mean he could use anything at the moment - he seems to be worse off than any other random person.
I'm as jaded and cynical as they come... but good god this man is a freakin' saint!!! Here's a link to the Lost Boys of Sudan... the organization I believe he's affiliated with: http://www.sudanlostboys.com/
Bol is truly a decent guy. i wish him the best. a GUY like him is rare in today's NBA. thank God we happen to have one of them in Yao Ming.
