As stated by the NBA, the Most Improved Player Award goes to the player who made a dramatic improvement from the previous season or previous seasons. For example, Memphis’ Ja Morant, New York’s Julius Randle, and New Orleans’ Brandon Ingram were the most recent recipients of the award after taking statistical jumps to stardom. Since the award’s creation in the 1985-1986 season, 37 players have won the award. With this said, the revitalization of Orlando Magic Forward Bol Bol’s career has propelled him into the conversation as the 2022-2023 Most Improved Player.
For reference, Bol’s talent was never in question, as he was ESPN’s No. 4 ranked prospect in the 2018 college recruiting class behind Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett, and Cam Reddish. After committing to the University of Oregon, Bol quickly lived up to expectations, averaging 29.8 MPG, 21.0 PPG, 9.6 RPG, and 2.7 BPG while shooting 56.1% from the field and 52.0% from three-point range in his first nine collegiate starts. Unfortunately, Bol’s stardom at Oregon was cut short after he suffered a stress fracture in his left foot, causing him to miss the remainder of the 2018-2019 season.
As a result of the stress fracture, many NBA teams were skeptical of selecting Bol in the 2019 NBA Draft due to durability concerns. For reference, Bol’s father, Manute, dealt with numerous injuries throughout his ten-year career, despite being the NBA’s unquestioned top-shot blocker (3.3 Career BPG). Therefore, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Bol slipped to the second round of the NBA Draft, where he was selected by the Miami Heat, who had given his draft rights to the Denver Nuggets.
Similar to his collegiate career at Oregon, Bol’s endured an-injury filled start in the NBA, missing a combined 174 games over his first three NBA seasons due to injuries. The ramifications of this resulted in Bol’s underwhelming statline of 6.2 MPG, 2.7 PPG, 1.2 RPG, and 0.3 BPG through his first 53 games. Eventually, Denver decided to part ways with the underperforming Bol, sending him to Boston in a three-team trade on January 19th, 2022. Less than a month later, Bol was traded yet again, as Orlando acquired Bol from Boston in exchange for their 2023 second-round pick.
Even though Bol didn’t play in a single game for the Magic after being traded on Febuary 10, 2022, Orlando was intrigued with having Bol as part of their team moving forward, giving him the $2.7 Million Qualifying Offer ahead of Free Agency, making him a Restricted Free Agent. With the possession of the “right of first refusal”, Orlando was able to resign Bol to a two-year, $4.2 Million contract.
Since signing Bol to the contract extension in July, Orlando has been pleasantly surprised with Bol’s start to the 2022-2023 season. In 16 games this season, Bol is averaging 12.8 PPG, 8.0 RPG, and 2.0 BPG while shooting 62.1% from the field, 41.4% from three-point range, and 87.5% from the free-throw line, all career-highs. Similarly, Bol’s Player Efficiency Rating (PER) of 19.9 actually leads Orlando, along with his 0.6 Defensive Win Shares (DWS) and 2.1 Box Plus/Minus (BPM). Most important, Bol has remained healthy, playing in all of Orlando’s 16 games, while starting in 11 of those games.
With the ability to make a positive impact on the floor, Bol has served as another versatile threat the Magic have been able to use against opponents. Standing at 7’2″and 220-pounds, Bol isn’t just another lanky big-man specializing in blocking shots. Rather, Bol’s offensive skillset resembles that of a shifty guard, where he is solid at dribbling and passing, has good footwork, and can lead the Magic’s offense in transition.
“He’s got a great basketball instinct,” Magic Head Coach Jamahl Mosley said of Bol. “I think there’s so much more that he can show, but the one thing that I really appreciate about him and what he’s done is he’s just accepted whatever we are asking him to do, and he does it willingly. I think that’s a great part about him, just trying to find his way to fit exactly what we are doing.”
“Teams are understanding we’re down some guards so they’re picking up full-court,” Mosley said, who was without Injured Guards Markelle Fultz, Garry Harris, Cole Anthony, and Jalen Suggs. “It gives these guys great experience understanding how they can handle pressure.”
In reference to Bol’s fantastic season for the Magic, it’s not implausible to think that Bol may contend for the 2022-2023 Most Improved Player Award. Unfortunately, the race for the award has never been deeper than now. In addition to Bol, Utah’s Lauri Markkanen, San Antonio’s Keldon Johnson, Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey, and Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton have all made tremendous progress from last season. In spite of this, very few people would have predicted the unfathomable leap to stardom that Bol has enjoyed this season.