Manute: The Center of Two Worlds

The two worlds of Manute Bol are thoroughly disparate. A Dinka tribesman from the southern Sudan, he was signed to play basketball by the Philadelphia 76ers purportedly only because he is 77 tall. The culture he left behind is primitive and patriarchal, with members' wealth based largely on ownership of cows and without a written language, a society that the Muslim-controlled Sudanese government is bent on destroying. His new world is one of huge salaries, jet travel and luxurious hotels. Montville, a senior writer for Sports Illustrated , shows how Bol is able to fit into both worlds simply by being himself, although he argues that Bol has not had the success he might have because no coach has made the effort to improve his play. This is a most unusual sports biography. Photos not seen by PW. (Feb.)