Basketball fans look up to their NBA stars but they’d have had to really crane their necks looking up to these five.
Manute Bol
Take a bow Manute Bol – and that in itself took some doing, coming down from the dizzy heights of 2.31m (that’s 7ft 7 in old money).
The late Bol came from the Dinka tribe in Sudan, one of the world’s tallest populations – his mum was almost seven foot.
Only one sport beckons when you’re that tall and he enjoyed 10 years in the NBA, making the all-NBA defensive second team in 1986 during his time at Washington.
In all but one of his 10 seasons he had more blocks made than points scored. Son Bol Bol, a real shorty at 2.18m, currently plays for Orlando.
Gheorghe Muresan
Sharing top honours – and we mean top – with Bol is Gheorghe Muresan, the league’s one and only other 2.31m giant.
Like Bol, Muresan was drafted by Washington – they like them big in the capital – and spent seven years in the NBA, winning most improved player in 1995/96.
Also, like Bol, he went on to do plenty of humanitarian work after retiring, though unlike Bol also starred as a ventriloquist in the video for Eminem’s breakthrough single My Name Is.
Tacko Fall
No.3 on the list is Tacko Fall, who stands a proud 2.29m, wears size 22 shoes and boasts a wingspan just over 2.54m.
The first points he ever scored for the Boston Celtics in his first game in October 2019 was a dunk – a standing dunk!
The Senegalese star’s NBA career comprised a mere 40 matches over three seasons with the Celtics and Cavaliers before he headed for China to play for the Xinjiang Flying Tigers.
Slavko Vranes
Hard to imagine anyone in this list flying under the radar, but in terms of NBA impact it’s safe to say Slavko Vranes pretty much did.
The Montenegrin – all 2.29m of him – was a big deal in Euroleague basketball when the New York Knicks drafted him in 2003. He never played a game in the Big Apple, instead crossing the States to team up with the Portland Trail Blazers.
Vranes managed a solitary outing for the Blazers, coming off the bench for three minutes, registering a solitary shot and one foul in a loss to Minnesota.
Shawn Bradley
Shawn Bradley, aka The Stormin’ Mormon, also touched the tape at 2.29m but unlike Vranes arrived in the NBA as a big deal, the second pick of the 1993 draft by the 76ers.
He played for Philadelphia and the New Jersey Nets where he used his incredible height and reach to lead the league in blocks in 1996/97.
He then headed west to enjoy eight successful seasons at Dallas, where he helped the Mavericks reach the Western Conference finals in 2003.
Bradley, who starred in the original Space Jam movie, is now wheelchair-bound following an accident out on his bike.
