ratliff. >> reporter: in the nba height is celebrated at 6-foot ten former sixer theo ratliff used his frame to bolster a successful 16 year career but his stature wasn't always an asset. >>> people called me grasshopper, you know, spider legs, different things, different little things that people would do, and then, of course, you always had a group of the other bunch. >> reporter: at 43, ratliff is pouring his heart into helping kid avoid heart break that he experienced while a child, from bullying. >>> it is always a passion of mine. my deal with several different things with kid and foundation s and i believed that the kid have always been our future. it is something i have a passion for as far as trying to help kid, whether it is, on the anti bullying side, understanding, literacy, just different things that a lot of kid just don't get a chance and a opportunity to be able to do. >> reporter: theo, the hero is name of rat cliff's children book a story of overcoming. >>> in the book i say, you know, just say, hello, and go on and have a nice day. so everybody in the school, started