on Friday, December 10th
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – FSN Bay Area will televise a special pregame feature with former NBA player Manute Bol prior to the Warriors/Magic game on Friday, December 10th at 7:30 PM.
Last October, the network interviewed Bol at the Hospital for Special Care in New Britain, Connecticut, where he was recovering from a taxi cab accident. On June 30th the accident killed the driver (it was determined that he was under the influence of alcohol) and severely injured Bol. He suffered multiple injuries; the most severe was three broken vertebrae in his neck.
Bol’s former head coach Don Nelson (currently Dallas Mavericks head coach); former teammates Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond, and Rod Higgins; and Chicago Bulls forward and member of the Dinka Tribe Luol Deng were all interviewed for the feature.
Excerpts from the feature:
Manute Bol (on his war-torn homeland of Sudan): “I want to get my people out of trouble… I am the one guy given the resources, so if I don’t do it, then there’s no one else.”
Bol (on the taxi cab accident): “I went to sleep, I’m in the backseat… next thing I know, I find myself in the hospital a month later.”
Bol: “I can not complain to God, because he already helped me. I didn’t die.”
Mitch Richmond: “We always hear that you can’t help everyone, Manute tried to do that”
Don Nelson: “One time I helped Manute rent a house in the Bay Area. I got a call from the owner complaining that Manute wasn’t using the kitchen, he was cooking in the fireplace!”
After the accident, Chris Mullin, Warriors Executive VP of Basketball Operations and former teammate of Bol, organized the inaugural Run TMC Fantasy Basketball Camp. Held last month, proceeds from the camp (via the Warriors Foundation) will help pay for Bol’s medical bills.
The production fees of the producer and cameraman for the Bol feature were donated to Bol’s medical expenses, and, FSN Bay Area matched those same fees and donated the funds. In order to show this lengthy feature, FSN Bay Area has dropped its first commercial break from the telecast, hoping to inspire viewers to contribute to Bol’s Medical Fund as well.
Contributions to Manute Bol can be made payable to: Manute Bol Medical & Special Needs Fund c/o Warriors Foundation – 1011 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94607-4019 or go to www.fsnbayarea.com for more information.