Please Join Me in Overreacting to Bol Bol’s Scrimmage Performance

Bol Bol | Elsa/Getty Images

Basketball was on television today. Yes, real basketball! The NBA kicked off a slew of scrimmages today with the Los Angeles Clippers taking on the Orlando Magic on Wednesday afternoon. Meanwhile, in a court next door, the Denver Nuggets took on the Washington Wizards with this hilarious starting five.

As you can see, Bol Bol started in what amounted to his first-ever NBA “game.” Bol was in the midst of rehab when the 2019-20 season started and played well in the G League, but never saw a minute in any of the Nuggets’ regular-season games before the season was postponed. For the most part, this is the first time a larger audience has watched Bol play basketball since his freshman year at Oregon.

And oh, buddy, let me tell you: it is hard not to get overtly excited about this kid. Everybody already knows the caveats surrounding a scrimmage in the midst of a global pandemic, so let’s not bother with those and skip right to the overreactions.

Bol is going to be an all-timer. Look at this! A man with those proportions is not supposed to move like that.

He can also do this.

And this.

I mean, come on. That’s not fair. Bol finished with a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds to go along with six (!!!) blocks. My brain hurts trying to register what my eyes see when Bol Bol Eurosteps around defenders.

I will be the first to stick my flag in the Bol Bol as a Future Hall of Famer camp. I am unashamed to do so. Sports are back, and so are hype trains.