HERALDED OREGON FRESHMAN Bol Bol, son of the late Manute Bol, had surgery last week that included putting screws and a bone graft into the navicular bone in his left foot. The 7-foot-2 center was having a great season for the Ducks, averaging 21 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks and shooting an eye-popping 52 percent on 3-pointers.
This was a serious procedure that you’d think would scare a lot of NBA teams. Big men with foot injuries is an unsettling scenario. But Bol and the support system he has in place have dealt with this as best as you can imagine.
First, he was able to have Dr. Martin O’Malley, one of the leading orthopedic surgeons in the country, do the operation at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. Then he had one of L.A.’s most respected attorneys, Bryan J. Freedman, put out a statement detailing the procedure, establishing a time frame and expressing confidence in recovery.
How well this works won’t be known for a while, but in canvassing the league over the past few days, teams remain very high on Bol. While they all have to wait for the medical exams in the spring, a handful of executives said they could still see him going in the top 10 in June. Some of it, a few general managers admitted, is the upcoming draft is so top-heavy that a talent like Bol just won’t fall that much.
In his latest mock draft, ESPN’s draft expert Jonathan Givony had Bol projected at the 15th pick.
