Have you ever heard about the tallest NBA players of all time? If not just continue reading this awesome article!
If you have heard the word “NBA” the first thing that comes to your mind is Michael Jordan, Lebron James, and Kobe Bryant and if you are a fan of these players you are thinking what their height is? Right? But did you know even if they are the greatest players of all time, they are not the tallest players in the NBA?
Height is an advantage in basketball and if you are gifted with height please make sure to use it in the right way. Why do you think height is an advantage in basketball? Here is the list why:
- Easy to score
- Easy to rebound
- Easier to block the opponents shot
But height has also some disadvantages and here are some:
- Slow in running
- Weak footwork
- Prone to lower body injuries
Even though some NBA players are tall like Burj Khalifa it does not mean they play better. Most worst NBA players are tall players and most NBA players that are good have an average and small height.
In this article, we will show you different NBA players that are so tall and we will show you their stats as well to prove to you that performance can beat height.
Tallest NBA Players In History
Now first we are going to talk about tall players that have played before in the NBA.
Manute Bol
- Nationality: Sudanese
- Height: (2.31 m) 7 ft. 6.75 in
- Weight: 91 kg
- Teams: Washington Bullets (1985-1988), Golden State Warriors (1988-1990), Philadelphia 76ers (1990-1994), Miami Heat (1994)
Manute Bol was one of the best shot blockers in the history of the NBA, but he did not excel in scoring buckets. He recorded 2086 blocks and 1599 points throughout his career.
Manute Bol is a Sudanese basketball player. His talent was found by coach Don Feeley, formerly the basketball coach at Fairleigh Dickinson University. He traveled to Sudan to hold clinics for the Sudanese national team in 1982. He convinced Manute Bol to go to the United States and play basketball.
With Feeley’s help, Bol landed at Cleveland State University. His playing career for Cleveland State University did not go well.
Manute Bol declared to play straight in the NBA after a bad experience in CSU. Bol was drafted by the Los Angeles Clippers in the 1983 NBA draft. But due to a lack of knowledge about the English language, the NBA requires Bol to return to college to learn to speak and understand the English language for him to understand his coach.
Bol returned to college and played for the University of Bridgeport in the 1984-85 NCAA season. In his college career, Bol averaged 22.5 points, 13.5 rebounds and 7.1 blocks per game.
Manute Bol was once again drafted in the NBA 1985 draft and he was drafted by the Washington Bullets. He played for several teams throughout his career. Manute Bol was considered by the NBA as one of the best defenders and shot blockers in the history of the NBA. He is also one of the tallest players to play in the NBA.
His stats in his whole career was 2.6 PPG. 4.2 RPG and 3.3 BPG. Bol retired from the NBA and played briefly in Qatar in 1998 due to some rheumatism in both knees and wrists.
You can check his top 10 plays of his NBA career here:
Yao Ming
- Nationality: Chinese
- Height: (2.29m) 7 ft. 6 in
- Weight: 141kg
- Teams: Shanghai Sharks (1997-2002), Houston Rockets (2002-2011)
When you hear a discussion about the tallest NBA players, your first thought is Yao Ming, right? Well, you are right! He is one of the tallest NBA players to play in the league.
Yao started to fall in love with basketball when he was 9 years old. His height when he was 9 years old was 5 feet and 5 inches and he was examined by the sports doctors and predicted that he would grow to 7 feet and 3 inches.
Yao Ming first tried out for the Shanghai Sharks junior team of the Chinese Basketball Association when he was 13 years old. After playing four years for the junior team of the Sharks, he next joined for the Senior team of Shanghai Sharks. During his senior year, Yao Ming managed to average 10 points and 8 rebounds a game in his rookie season.
In 1999, Yao Ming was pressured to enter the 1999 NBA draft by Li Yaomin, the general manager of Shanghai Sharks. Yao decided to enter the 2002 NBA draft and he was drafted by Houston Rockets.
He was criticized by some people that he will fail in his NBA career, but Yao proved them wrong. During his rookie season, Yao Ming averaged 13.5 PPG and 8.5 RPG.
After gaining a career total of 9,247 points, 920 blocked shots, and 4,494 rebound, Yao decided to retire from the NBA at the age of 30 due to some reasons. Throughout his NBA career, Yao Ming averaged 19 PPG, 9.2 RPG, and 1.6 APG
Here are some of his top plays in his basketball career:
Shawn Bradley
- Nationality: German and the U.S.
- Height: (2.29m) 7 ft. 6 in
- Weight: 125kg
- Teams: Philadelphia 76ers (1993-1995), New Jersey Nets (1995-1997), Dallas Mavericks (1997-2005)
Shawn Bradley is one of the tallest NBA players of all time. Probably you did not hear about him so stay reading.
Shawn was a german but he was raised by his parents in Utah. He was one of the successful basketball players in Utah high school history, finishing with career averages of 20.3 points, 11.5 rebounds and 5.4 blocked shots per game.
Bradley was heavily recruited by many colleges in the USA but he decided to play at Brigham Young University. During his freshman season (1990-1991) in BYU, he averaged 14.8 points and 7.7 rebounds per game.
After an outstanding performance in Brigham Young University, Bradley entered the 1993 NBA draft and was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers. He was criticized by people because of his thin build and lack of experience because he only played in BYU for 1 year.
Shawn Bradley played for different teams in the NBA and he also played for the German national basketball team. Bradley retired from the NBA in 2005 and throughout his career, he managed to average 8.1 PPG, 6.3 RBG, and 2.5 BPG.
Even though his height was 7’6, some good NBA players disrespected him by dunking on him. Check this video.
Gheorghe Muresan
- Nationality – Romania
- Height – (2.31m) 7 ft. 7 in
- Weight – 143kg
- Teams – Washington Bullets (1993-1997), New Jersey Nets (1998-2000)
Gheorghe Muresan was born in Tritenii de Jos in România. Even though his parent’s height was just normal, the reason why he grew so tall is because of a pituitary gland disorder. Gheorge is one of the remarkable tallest NBA players.
Muresan started playing competitive basketball at Universitatea Cluj and they became the national champion in 1992. He started playing professionally in the French League (1992-1993)
Gheorghe was drafted by the Washington Bullets in the 1993 NBA draft. His best NBA season was in 1995-1996 and he was declared as the most improved player in that time after averaging 14.5 PPG, 9.6 RPG, and 2.3 BPG.
He retired from the NBA in 2003 and throughout his career, he averaged 9.8 PPG, 6.4 RPG, and 2.5 BPG.
Current Tall NBA Players
Sim Bhullar
- Nationality – Canada
- Height – (2.26m) 7 ft. 5 in
- Weight – 163kg
- Teams – Sacramento Kings (2015)
Sim Bhullar tried his luck and tried to join the NBA in 2014 but during the 2014 NBA draft, he was undrafted. Bhullar joined the Sacramento Kings for the 2014 NBA summer league. On August 14, 2014, he signed with the kings and became the first Indian to play in the NBA. Sadly, after appearing in 2 preseason games he was waived by Sacramento Kings.
Although he did not have a good NBA career, he is still playing professionally in Asia. He started playing with the Dacin Tigers of the Taiwanese Super Basketball league (2016-2017). In 2018 he signed with Guanxi Rhino of the 2nd tier league in China.
Currently, he is playing for the Yulon Luxgen Dinos in Taiwan.
Check out his first shot in NBA:
Tacko Fall
- Nationality – Senegalese
- Height – (2.31m) 7 ft. 7 in
- Weight – 141kg
- Teams – Boston Celtics
I bet you have already heard about Tacko Fall right? Tacko Fall is one of the tallest NBA players and tallest living humans.
Tacko Fall was raised in Senegal but moved to the United States at the age of 16. He was playing soccer and had no interest in playing basketball. He first played organized basketball in Houston Texas and trained with the NBA hall of fame Hakeem Olajuwon.
Fall played for the University of Central Florida and played as a center. Despite going undrafted for the NBA 2019 draft, Fall signed to an exhibit 10 contract on June 21 2019 by the Boston Celtics. He played for the Celtics in NBA summer league where he averaged 7.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game.
Last October 13, 2019, the Celtics announced that they had signed Tacko Fall with a two-way contract. Fall made his NBA debut on October 26, 2019, during a game against New York Knicks. He only played four minutes and scored four points and grabbed three rebounds.
Right now Tacko Fall is still playing for the Boston Celtics and made his NBA playoffs debut last August 20, 2020, against the Philadelphia 76ers. He scored 3 points and grabbed 1 rebound.
People loved Tacko Fall because of his humbleness and I think Tacko Fall can do better if he just continues to train.
Here are some of his NBA highlights:
Boban Marjanovic
- Nationality – Serbian
- Height – (2.24 m) 7 ft 4 in
- Weight – 132kg
- Teams – San Antonio Spurs (2015-2016), Detroit Pistons (2016-2018) Los Angeles Clippers (2018-2019) Philadelphia 76ers (2019) Dallas Mavericks (Current)
Marjanovic was born and raised in Boljevac in eastern Serbia. Even though he has an incredible height, his family members are all average in height.
Boban started playing basketball with the youth teams of Boljevac. Because of his remarkable height, he already started playing for one of the Serbian professional leagues at the age of 14. He played in their youth categories until the 2005-2006 season.
Last summer 2010, Marjanovic signed a three-year contract with CSKA Moscow. But because of some bad reasons, Marjanovic lost his place in CSKA Moscow. In July 2012, Marjanovic signed with Serbian team Mega Vizura for the 2012-2013 season. Boban played for many teams in Europe before reaching the NBA.
Last July 17, 2015, Marjanovic signed a one year contract with San Antonio Spurs. He made his NBA debut on October 30 2015 recording six points and five rebounds against Brooklyn Nets.
After the 2015-2016 season, Boban became a free agent. On July 7 2016 he received an offer from the Detroit Pistons. After signing with the Pistons, Boban recorded his career-high stats with 15 points and career-high 19 rebounds.
After playing for many teams in the NBA, Boban was signed by the Dallas Mavericks. While in Dallas, he scored a career-high 31 points with 17 rebounds against the Denver Nuggets.
Check out his 31-point game here:
Last Words
Even though these NBA players did not have a good NBA career, they still managed to enter this tough basketball league. You can consider them as one of the worst NBA players because of their low stats but what’s remarkable about them is their height.
Basketball is a game of height and performance. But do not think that height matters most because there are other short NBA players that played in the league. Height matters but performance matter more.
