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Bol was a Sudanese-born basketball player and activist. At 7 feet, 7 inches (2.31 meters), he was one of the tallest players ever to appear in the National Basketball Association, along with Gheorghe Mureşan. Bol was officially measured at 7 feet, 6 3/4 inches tall by the Guinness Book of World Records. Son of a Dinka tribal chief, Bol was born on October 16, 1962 in either Turalei or Gogrial, Sudan.Bol played basketball for two colleges and four NBA teams.
He was known as a specialist player; his shot blocking skills were considered among the best in the history of the sport, but other aspects of his game were considered fairly weak. One statistical oddity highlights Bol’s unique skill set: he is the only player in NBA history to have more blocked shots than points scored. On June 19, 2010, Bol died from acute kidney failure and complications from Stevens–Johnson syndrome at the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville, Virginia.