OT: Was Manute Bol an old man playing in the NBA?
- Thread starter akaukswoosh
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I don’t know about the “40 or 50” part, but I certainly can believe he was older than claimed.
Lots of African players have been rumored to be older than their official age over the years (we even heard some of that about Oscar Tshiebwe). And there’s probably been some truth to it. Birth certificate records tend to be malleable things in some countries.
Lots of African players have been rumored to be older than their official age over the years (we even heard some of that about Oscar Tshiebwe). And there’s probably been some truth to it. Birth certificate records tend to be malleable things in some countries.
Especially given his abnormal height, it's hard to believe he would be able to play 70+ games per season while over the age of 45.
OT, but there have been rumors of the African representative to the Little League World Series using players that were said to have been 16-17, so I wouldn’t be surprised to hear this. Although what Bol did was not considered cheating, considering his age, maybe the opposite 
I don’t believe at all that he was 40-50 in the NBA like that article suggests, but it would make sense if he was around 5 years older than reported.
This has been going on for years. One of the great "mystery" recruits who arrived John Reik Suas----who went to Our Savior home of Tiadane Drame's Trafficking network (Cheick Diallo is another you'll all remember) came over and tore up a Camp/Summer Session and everyone wanted him until they found out he's closer to AARP then being an actual Teenager. He was on every team's radar but eventually started out at Mississippi St and didn't do anything there.
Here's another for you-Dikembe Mutombo reportedly born in 1966 was 23 yrs old when he was a FR at Georgetown in '89 season if you go by his reported date of birth. That meant he was 25/26 when he was a Rookie with the Nuggets and he played 18 yrs. Some close to Georgetown and NBA think Mutombo was at least 30 when he left Georgetown. (Mutumbo sat out playing in '88 as a RS but stayed 4 yrs only playing 3 due to the language issues he had on Standardized Test Scores and was listed as a 5'11 PG from Kinshasa, Zaire (at the time was name of country not the Democratic Republic of Congo)
If you want to believe these are all young men-go ahead. Many will believe Khaman Malauch was a young teen at Duke when reality is he's closer to being as old as Zion Williamson (24) then he was Cooper Flagg or Kon Kneuppel.
Here's another for you-Dikembe Mutombo reportedly born in 1966 was 23 yrs old when he was a FR at Georgetown in '89 season if you go by his reported date of birth. That meant he was 25/26 when he was a Rookie with the Nuggets and he played 18 yrs. Some close to Georgetown and NBA think Mutombo was at least 30 when he left Georgetown. (Mutumbo sat out playing in '88 as a RS but stayed 4 yrs only playing 3 due to the language issues he had on Standardized Test Scores and was listed as a 5'11 PG from Kinshasa, Zaire (at the time was name of country not the Democratic Republic of Congo)
If you want to believe these are all young men-go ahead. Many will believe Khaman Malauch was a young teen at Duke when reality is he's closer to being as old as Zion Williamson (24) then he was Cooper Flagg or Kon Kneuppel.
Kneuppel turns 20 this August himself. A year and a half older than Cooper yet both were freshmen.
I always thought Tshiebwe was several years older than listed.
Black don't crack. I can buy it on his age. My wife has a couple employees I'd swear are mid to late 20s. Keep themselves super fit. Both are mid to late 40s.
Cheick Diallo played at Kansas. He was MVP of the McDonald's All American game because he got a bunch of dunks and layups against the likes of Stephen Zimmerman (another guy everyone wanted). He never could shoot or dribble but was good in a terrible high school class.
Dikembe Mutumbo could have been a couple years older, but I doubt he was almost 50 when he was still playing in the NBA. It would have meant his older brother Ilo lied about his age as well.
Think teams are more interested in what potential these players might have. Most of the players from Africa didn't start playing basketball until later in life compared to the US, Canada, and European players. They are seen as having greater potential because of that.
"Was Manute Bol an old man playing in the NBA?"
I don't know about Manute in the NBA but Perry Ellis was an old man when he played at Kansas.
I was part of TPA that did the hiring for Jeffboat. They wanted to specifically hire Viet Namese welders for the line because they had such good results with them.
We had contacts to facilitate that.
During screening I noticed that so many gave their birthdates as 7-4, 1-1, 12-25. This was pre 9/11.
I asked one of better English speaking guys one time about that. He said when entering the country they are asked their birthday. Most just say an American date they know.
So it’s very possible they have the wrong age.
But a 20 year difference? I doubt it.
We had contacts to facilitate that.
During screening I noticed that so many gave their birthdates as 7-4, 1-1, 12-25. This was pre 9/11.
I asked one of better English speaking guys one time about that. He said when entering the country they are asked their birthday. Most just say an American date they know.
So it’s very possible they have the wrong age.
But a 20 year difference? I doubt it.
