This week has been surprising from Denver Nuggets’ Bol Bol as fans are impressed with his basketball debut.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) scrimmages have finally begun.
It looks like the Denver Nuggets has been turning people’s heads lately, starting with this unorthodox big man lineup with a center and forward playing at the guards’ spot.
Omfg pic.twitter.com/wGeLcX1gxK
— John Hollinger (@johnhollinger) July 22, 2020
Nikola Jokic starting at point guard, has got to be one of the scariest things that you would see in a Denver lineup.
However, the spotlight today was focused on Bol Bol, the 44th pick in the NBA, and the son of the late Manute Bol.
The rookie started with crazy highlights both on the defensive and offensive in. Some even noticed that he ignored Jokic’s call for a pass in one of the highlights at the start of the first quarter.
What a start for Bol Bol ‼️
In his first action for the @nuggets, @BolBol puts up 16 PTS, 10 REB, 6 BLK to guide Denver past Washington in their NBA Restart Scrimmage opener! #WholeNewGame pic.twitter.com/lQBeS7wOef
— NBA (@NBA) July 22, 2020
Bol Bol’s 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 blocks against Washington was so impressive that he received a random drug test after the game in which Denver won 89-82.
Bol Bol was scheduled for a random drug test after this game, per Nuggets PR.
— Mike Singer (@msinger) July 22, 2020
As per Sports Illustrated, the NBA did continue to push performance enhancement drug (PED) testing among the players but suspended recreational drug testing.
Bol Bol doing well in practice as well as praised by teammates
Immediately after today’s game, people of Twitter and YouTube exploded and suddenly joined the Bol Bol hype train starting with Mike Korzemba praising the rookie’s debut performance.
Most of his teammates are praising him, including Jamal Murray. As per Nuggets.com staff writer Alex Labidou, he interviewed Murray via Zoom and this is what he said:
“Bol is talented. He’s 7-foot-2 with a 7-foot-7 wingspan and he’s a mismatch anywhere on the court.”
In addition, the Denver Nuggets Twitter page posted a snippet of an assist play between Jokic and Bol wherein Bol nearly posterized a teammate.
https://twitter.com/nuggets/status/1285299689131085824
More glimpses of what the new normal for the NBA looks like
The Los Angeles Clippers look good in their scrimmage as Paul George puts on a show putting up 18 points in 19 minutes coming off from injury in their win against the Orlando Magic 99-90.
PG (18 PTS) didn’t miss a beat against Orlando 💪 pic.twitter.com/kaffw9DqPM
— NBA TV (@NBATV) July 22, 2020
The Zion-less New Orleans Pelicans blew out the battered Brooklyn Nets 99-68. Recently acquired veteran Jamal Crawford did not play as well as the other Nets pieces that were recently signed.
As for the Miami Heat, they secured a win against the Sacramento Kings 104-98 wherein sharpshooter Duncan Robinson led the team in scoring where he had 18 points with 5 three-pointers.
Tyler Herro and Andre Iguodala scored 15 points and 11 points, respectively. However, Jimmy Butler was silent offensively—scoring 9 points and grabbing 3 rebounds.
Plus, the “fans” in the bubble also boosted the morale of Miami in this scrimmage.
Major shoutout to our fans in the bubble. Y'all are lit tonight 😂 pic.twitter.com/splH0GtPWM
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) July 23, 2020
We shall see if the Bol Bol hype continues moving forward as the NBA resumes this coming July 30. The next schedule of NBA scrimmages will continue until July 28.
Featured image courtesy of DKM/YouTube Screenshot