Interior defense in the NBA is a tough job. It gets even tougher when an entire team sets its sights on you.
That was the fate of the late Manute Bol in 1985–86, courtesy of the Boston Celtics — or more precisely, courtesy of Larry Bird, who turned posterizing the then-Washington Bullets rookie into a cold challenge.
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Team bounty on Bol
The season marked not only Bol‘s debut NBA campaign but also Bill Walton’s first year in Boston, and he clearly remembered what happened during their first two matchups with the towering rookie from South Sudan.
Before that first encounter, Walton, who passed away in May 2024, recounted in his memoir “Back from the Dead” that most of the team hadn’t even heard of the late second-round pick Bol, except for one.
A true student of the game, Bird had done his homework and, as the team’s leader, promptly warned his fellow Celtics to avoid at all costs becoming a highlight on SportsCenter or ESPN — still in its early days — at the hands of the 7’7″ shot-blocking phenomenon.
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It was certainly sound advice, as Bol had already racked up two vicious blocks in the previous game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Still, during the game against Washington, Walton recalled that it didn’t help.
At one point, Walton found himself open on the left wing with a clean bank shot, let it fly and Bol, stretching impossibly high, swatted it out of the air.
The Celtics’ big man got a firsthand demonstration of just how dominant Bol could be inside. For Bird, that was a major thorn in the side. With his usual trash talk likely falling flat, the future Hall of Famer devised another plan to disrupt Bol’s dominant interior defense.
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The Celtics went all in
Walton recalled that after that first matchup — a 73–88 win in which Bol recorded a game-high five blocks — Bird once again rallied the team. The stellar 6’9″ forward announced a new tactic, one that every player would take part in.
“Larry called us all together and said that we all had to put $100 into a pool, and that the first one to dunk on Manute would get all the cash — $1,200,” wrote Bill.
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About two weeks later, on November 15, 1985, the Celtics faced the Bullets again, this time at home. However, even with their new bounty strategy in place, no player in green could initially succeed. Walton recalled that Kevin McHale, for instance, relentlessly attacked Bol, even ignoring play calls, only to be blocked every time.
At one point, Bird even orchestrated a play to put himself in position for the dunk, waving Bol back on defense as part of a “game within the game.” Yet the future two-time NBA block leader rejected him as well.
Finally, Boston’s Robert Parish delivered, throwing down over the Bullets center and claiming the prize. The rest of the team from Massachusetts left empty-handed, but as Walton shows, richer in story.
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Ultimately, Bird’s bounty was about more than money — $1,200 was only peanuts for him and his teammates anyway. It was a lesson in shared motivation, unity, competitive psychology, and respect on the court. It certainly had the desired effect: Bol ended the game with “just” two blocks as the Celtics won their second matchup against the Bullets, emerging victorious 118–114 at Boston Garden.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Sep 8, 2025, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.