The recent retirment of garble-voiced Dikembe Mutombo after a 16-year career in the NBA inspires the brain to ponder the plight of foreign-born big men. Especially the biggest of them all.
This comes paraphrased from former Sports Illustrated Air & Space columnist Steve Rushin's blog not too long ago:
Manute Bol, a 7-foot, 7-inch tulip tree of a man, isn't exactly known for his vernacular. Yet the Sudanese-born hoopster is unofficially credited as the father of one of the most widely used phrases in all of sport. Apparently, when Bol would err in practice he would turn to the teammate and utter the two easiest words his limited vocabulary would allow him to string together. And, with that, the phrase "My Bad" was birthed into sporting lexicon.
Bol, it should be noted, played nine seasons for four teams, including two stints with the 76ers, Bullets and Warriors. A sense of humor isn't lost on the big fellow in retirement. Since hanging up his rather large sneakers, Bol has appeared in celebrity boxing and hockey matches (both which can be argued are the same thing).
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