(CNN) -- Manute Bol, one of the tallest players in NBA history, died Saturday at the age of 47, a spokeswoman with the University of Virginia Medical Center confirmed to CNN.
The hospital did not disclose the cause of death.
Bol, who was listed at 7-feet-7 inches tall and 225 pounds, played for the Washington Bullets, Golden State Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers and Miami Heat in his 10-year career.
The native of war-torn Sudan was known during and after his career for his charity work for his home country.
"He was a wonderful person. He would always talk about the civil war going on in Sudan, because he was sending all of his money back to Sudan," Charles Barkley, Bol's teammate on the 76ers and an NBA analyst for TNT, told CNN's Don Lemon. "I can honestly say I never played with a better person," Barkley said.
"He never forgot about the Sudan. He would talk to us about it all the time. ... The world is not a better place today; It's worse because we don't have Manute Bol," he added.
Extraordinary Human Rights Activist, Manute Bol, dies at 47; Towering NBA Player Provided Millions of Dollars to Jihad-Ravaged Sudan
Today, we lost a great man. A man for the ages. One whose life should be an example to us all. Towering on the court and towering, larger still, in character.
Manute Bol, 7-foot-7 NBA basketball player from Sudan who relentlessly dedicated himself to humanitarian work in Africa, died Saturday. He was 47.
“Sudan and the world have lost a hero and an example for all of us,” said Tom Prichard, executive director of the group Sudan Sunrise.
Manute Bol called the UN a failure, said the African Union forces were weak, afraid, ineffective. He fought to have NATO stop the killing, the slavery, the unspeakable crimes against humanity.
Bol told me in our interview:
"Everyday we are losing life, losing life. If no action is taken, by next year you're gonna see a million lives lost."
Former NBA player and Dinka tribesman Manute Bol and his best friend went to over 39 Congressmen personally and met with the Pentagon in the 90's telling them that their people were being decimated by the Arab Muslims from the North and would disappear if the US did not help. He said they got nothing.
...So Manute reached into his own pockets in the millions to help support the starving refugees who had witnessed their homes and families destroyed.
And so Bol was broke. So much so that former NBA friends held a benefit to raise $$ for his huge health bills after a drunk cab driver flipped a car Bol was in.
Go read the whole thing at Atlas Shrugs.
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