It's Hard To Understand Why Bol Bol Has Struggled For NBA Minutes Because The Man Is A Freak Of Nature
Stay your ass in France, Victor Wembanyama — we already have someone in the NBA who's insanely tall and insanely skilled, and his name is Bol Bol!!
Gonna be dope when everyone takes that seriously. I was on the Wembanyama Wagon before anyone on this blog with my "Lay Bricks for Vic" tanking slogan that has yet to be eclipsed from what I've seen. Maybe it'll catch on.
Back to the man so nice they named him twice. Bol Bol was a blue-chip recruit who only played nine games at Oregon due to a foot injury. I guess the long-held fears of big men and foot problems grabbed hold of all NBA talent evaluators, causing Bol to slip to the second round. After being stuck on the bench to begin his career in Denver, it appears the Orlando Magic are actually letting Bol Bol cook!!!
I mean are you fucking kidding me with this?
Watching Bol Bol go to work in this way isn't exactly a breaking news flash for anyone who's even loosely followed the 7-foot-2 phenom since his college hoops cameo. It's just nice to see the Magic actually permit Bol to participate as an NBA player following three seasons with the Nuggets where he appeared in only 53 games and averaged 6.2 minutes.
I can't believe Denver's coaching staff would watch practice last season, not have Jamal Murray available the entire time, witness the MVP level Nikola Jokic was playing at, observe some of the things Bol Bol can do, and not even flirt with the possibility of, "Hey, maybe a Bol Bol-Jokic frontcourt? Maybe? Like all the time, even? Perhaps?"
Through one half tonight, Bol is a perfect 5-for-5 from the field and has netted 12 points. Doesn't get much better than that.
With over 21 minutes on the court a night in Orlando entering Saturday's game against the Kings, Bol is making the most of his shot on the perpetually rebuilding Magic. I was gonna screenshot Bol's 36-minute splits from Basketball Reference through nine games this season, but it's such a clusterfuck to read so I'll just feature them in textual form: 17.4 points on 65.5% shooting — he's also a 36.2% 3-point shooter for his career — 12.2 rebounds, and 4.3 blocks.
SHEESH. The Magic franchise is traditionally where young talent goes to die. They may have found an exception in No. 1 overall pick Paolo Banchero, and now with my guy Bol Bol. Still only 22 years old, all this guy needs is some quality PT to gain confidence. Keep giving it to him, Orlando. You have so little to lose as is.
Twitter @MattFitz_gerald/TikTok