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Denver Nuggets rookie Bol Bol has a cannon.
Move over, Drew Lock. Denver Nuggets rookie Bol Bol is the real quarterback the Denver Broncos need.
In the fourth quarter of Monday night’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers, the 7-foot-2 center gathered a loose ball pass from a teammate, turned toward the opposite basket and in one fluid motion, threw an absolute laser with one hand that traveled almost the entire length of the court on a rope.
Bol’s teammate, Mason Plumlee, was waiting near the opposite basket for the easy fast break layup that put the Nuggets up by one over the best team in the Western Conference.
Give Bol Bol his NFL tryout
Okay, so maybe Bol would be snapped in half on a football field with that wiry frame of his, and maybe throwing a basketball is different than a football, and maybe the Broncos have high hopes for Lock this season after wasting away under Joe Flacco last season.
But still! Passes of this nature are rare on the basketball court in general, let alone when they come from a 20-year-old rookie who’s 7-foot-2 and hadn’t played any NBA games until the league restarted in Orlando.
Currently sitting in third place in the Western Conference standings, the Nuggets have loved what they’ve seen from their second-round draft pick out of Oregon. Nikola Jokic is the best passing big in the NBA (and possibly ever), but it’s entirely possible that Bol Bol is already the second-best passing big on Denver’s roster — no small feat, given that Plumlee is also a terrific passer in his own right.
No matter how those rankings between the three Nuggets shake out, Bol Bol’s passing ability and feathery touch have him looking like a favorite for the 2020-21 Rookie of the Year award (these seeding games don’t count as his rookie season), and no matter which Denver team he’s suiting up for, fans in the Mile High City should be excited about what they’re seeing so far.