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List of tallest players in NBA history

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This is a list of the tallest players in National Basketball Association history. It is currently topped by the 7-foot-7-inch (2.31 m) Romanian Gheorghe Mureșan, taken by the Washington Bullets as the number 30 overall pick in the 1993 NBA draft.[1]

As of 2024, twenty-eight players have been listed at 7 feet 3 inches (2.21 m) or taller. Three are active as of the 2024–25 season: Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs, Zach Edey of the Memphis Grizzlies, and Bol Bol of the Phoenix Suns. The tallest player inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is 7-foot-6-inch (2.29 m) Yao Ming. Yao, Ralph Sampson and Arvydas Sabonis are the only players 7 feet 3 inches or taller selected to the Hall of Fame.

Yasutaka Okayama, a 7-foot-8-inch (2.34 m) Japanese basketball player picked 171st overall in the seventh round of the 1981 NBA draft by the Golden State Warriors, is the tallest player to ever be drafted for the NBA.[2] However, he never played in the NBA.[3]

List

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^ Active NBA player
* Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
GP Games played Pts Points PPG Points per game
FG% Field goal percentage FT% Free throw percentage Reb Rebounds
RPG Rebounds per game Blk Blocks BPG Blocks per game
Height Weight Player Nationality Teams GP Pts PPG FG% FT% Reb RPG Blk BPG Notes
7 ft 7 in (2.31 m) 303 lb (137 kg) Gheorghe Mureșan  Romania
 United States
Washington Bullets (19931998)
New Jersey Nets (19982000)
307 3,020 9.8 .573 .644 1,957 6.4 455 1.5 Won 1996 NBA Most Improved Player Award.[4]
7 ft 7 in (2.31 m)[note 1] 200 lb (91 kg) Manute Bol  Sudan Washington Bullets (19851988, 1994)
Golden State Warriors (19881990, 1994)
Philadelphia 76ers (19901993, 1994)
Miami Heat (1993–1994)
625 1,599 2.6 .407 .561 2,647 4.2 2,086 3.3 Played alongside the shortest player in NBA history, Muggsy Bogues, during the 1987–88 season for the Washington Bullets; their difference in height was 28 inches (71 cm).
7 ft 6 in (2.29 m) 311 lb (141 kg) Tacko Fall  Senegal Boston Celtics (20192021)
Cleveland Cavaliers (2021–2022)
37 82 2.2 .673 .320 90 2.4 30 0.8
7 ft 6 in (2.29 m) 310 lb (141 kg) Yao Ming*  China Houston Rockets (20022011) 481 9,196 19.1 .525 .832 4,467 9.3 912 1.9 Tallest player to play in at least one All-Star Game. Also tallest player inducted into the Hall of Fame.
7 ft 6 in (2.29 m) 275 lb (125 kg) Shawn Bradley  United States
 Germany
Philadelphia 76ers (19931995)
New Jersey Nets (19951997)
Dallas Mavericks (19972005)
832 6,752 8.1 .457 .716 5,268 6.3 2,119 2.5 Born to American parents in the former West Germany.
7 ft 5 in (2.26 m) 360 lb (163 kg) Sim Bhullar  Canada Sacramento Kings (2015) 3 2 0.7 .500 1 0.3 1 0.3 First NBA player of Indian descent. Played 16 seconds in his debut on April 7, 2015.
7 ft 5 in (2.26 m)[7] 275 lb (125 kg) Slavko Vraneš  Montenegro Portland Trail Blazers (2004) 1 0 0.0 .000 0 0.0 0 0.0 Played in one game, on January 8, 2004 against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Played 3 minutes, with one shot attempt from the field (missed) and one personal foul. Vraneš was officially listed as 7'5" while playing in the NBA, and has since grown taller (7'6" or 2.30 m), according to most sources.
7 ft 5 in (2.26 m) 260 lb (118 kg) Pavel Podkolzin  Russia Dallas Mavericks (20042006) 6 4 0.7 .000 .500 9 1.5 1 0.1
7 ft 5 in (2.26 m) 217 lb (98 kg) Chuck Nevitt  United States Houston Rockets (19821983, 19881990)
Los Angeles Lakers (19841985)
Detroit Pistons (19851988)
Chicago Bulls (1991)
San Antonio Spurs (1993)
155 251 1.6 .438 .589 239 1.5 111 0.7 Tallest player to win an NBA Championship.
7 ft 4 in (2.24 m) 325 lb (147 kg) Priest Lauderdale  United States Atlanta Hawks (1996–1997)
Denver Nuggets (1997–1998)
74 255 3.4 .472 .554 143 1.9 26 0.4
7 ft 4 in (2.24 m) 305 lb (138 kg) Zach Edey^  Canada Memphis Grizzlies (2024–present) 0 0 0 0
7 ft 4 in (2.24 m) 290 lb (132 kg) Boban Marjanović  Serbia San Antonio Spurs (2015–2016)
Detroit Pistons (20162018)
Los Angeles Clippers (20182019)
Philadelphia 76ers (2019)
Dallas Mavericks (20192022)
Houston Rockets (20222024)
296 1,709 5.8 .574 .766 1107 3.7 93 0.3
7 ft 4 in (2.24 m) 275 lb (125 kg) Mark Eaton  United States Utah Jazz (19821993) 875 5,216 6.0 .458 .649 6,939 10.8 3,064 3.5 He set records for most blocked shots per game in a single season (5.56 bpg in 1984–85) and for an entire career (3.50 bpg)—both marks still stand today. One-time NBA All-Star.
7 ft 4 in (2.24 m) 265 lb (120 kg) Rik Smits  Netherlands Indiana Pacers (19882000) 867 12,871 14.8 .507 .773 5,277 6.1 1,111 1.3 One-time NBA All-Star.
7 ft 4 in (2.24 m) 228 lb (103 kg) Ralph Sampson*  United States Houston Rockets (19831987)
Golden State Warriors (19871989)
Sacramento Kings (19891991)
Washington Bullets (1991–1992)
456 7,039 15.4 .486 .661 4,011 8.8 752 1.6 Three-time College national player of the year, #1 pick in the 1983 NBA draft, four-time All-Star, member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
7 ft 3 in (2.21 m) 305 lb (138 kg) Ha Seung-jin  South Korea Portland Trail Blazers (20052006) 46 70 1.5 .519 .500 67 1.5 13 0.3 Only Korean player to play in the NBA.
7 ft 3 in (2.21 m) 292 lb (132 kg) Arvydas Sabonis*  Lithuania Portland Trail Blazers (19952001, 2002–2003) 470 5,629 12.0 .500 .786 3,436 7.3 494 1.1 Sabonis was originally drafted into the NBA in 1986 (Rd. 1, #24 overall), but was not allowed to play in the NBA for most of his career due to restrictions set by the former Soviet Union.
7 ft 3 in (2.21 m) 275 lb (125 kg) Peter John Ramos  Puerto Rico Washington Wizards (2004–2005) 6 11 1.8 .500 .500 4 0.7 1 0.2
7 ft 3 in (2.21 m) 265 lb (120 kg) Walter Tavares  Cape Verde Atlanta Hawks (20152016)
Cleveland Cavaliers (2017)
13 33 2.5 .625 .273 32 2.5 12 0.9 Only Cape Verdean player to play in the NBA.
7 ft 3 in (2.21 m) 263 lb (119 kg) Hasheem Thabeet  Tanzania Memphis Grizzlies (20092011)
Houston Rockets (20112012)
Portland Trail Blazers (2012)
Oklahoma City Thunder (20122014)
224 483 2.2 .567 .578 595 2.7 184 0.8 Only Tanzanian player to play in the NBA.
7 ft 3 in (2.21 m) 260 lb (118 kg) Žydrūnas Ilgauskas  Lithuania Cleveland Cavaliers (19962010)
Miami Heat (20102011)
771 10,616 13.8 .475 .780 5,904 7.7 1,269 1.6 Two-time NBA All-Star.
7 ft 3 in (2.21 m) 256 lb (116 kg) Tibor Pleiß  Germany Utah Jazz (2015–2016) 12 24 2.0 .440 1.000 15 1.3 2 0.2
7 ft 3 in (2.21 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Aleksandar Radojević  Bosnia & Herzegovina
 Montenegro
Toronto Raptors (1999–2000)
Utah Jazz (2004–2005)
15 26 1.7 .308 .625 36 2.4 3 0.2
7 ft 3 in (2.21 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Swede Halbrook  United States Syracuse Nationals (19601962) 143 786 5.5 .347 .591 949 6.6
7 ft 3 in (2.21 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Randy Breuer  United States Milwaukee Bucks (19831990)
Minnesota Timberwolves (19901992)
Atlanta Hawks (19921993)
Sacramento Kings (1993)
681 4,599 6.8 .467 .628 2,986 4.4 750 1.1
7 ft 3 in (2.21 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Bol Bol^  Sudan Denver Nuggets (20192022)
Orlando Magic (20222023)
Phoenix Suns (2023–present)
123 776 6.3 .508 .657 468 3.8 103 0.8 Son of joint tallest player in NBA history, Manute Bol
7 ft 3 in (2.21 m) 212 lb (96 kg) Keith Closs  United States Los Angeles Clippers (19972000) 130 502 3.9 .471 .606 372 2.9 163 1.3 During his collegiate career, Closs averaged 5.9 blocks per game, which is the NCAA Division I record.
7 ft 3 in (2.21 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Victor Wembanyama^  France San Antonio Spurs (2023–present) 71 1,522 21.4 .465 .796 755 10.6 254 3.6 Drafted first overall in the 2023 NBA draft.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Official NBA sources variously list Bol at 7 ft 6 in (2.29 m)[5] or 7 ft 7 in (2.31 m).[6]

References

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  1. ^ "1993 NBA Draft". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2008-11-28.
  2. ^ "Former NBA player, humanitarian Manute Bol dies at age 47". NY Daily News. Daily News, L.P. June 19, 2010. Retrieved December 5, 2010.
  3. ^ Kim, Randy (June 19, 2003). "Draft Oddities". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved December 5, 2010.
  4. ^ "1995-96 NBA Awards Voting".
  5. ^ "Manute Bol". National Basketball Association. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
  6. ^ The Official NBA Encyclopedia. New York: Doubleday. 2000. p. 405. ISBN 9780385501309.
  7. ^ "Slavko Vranes bio". NBA.com. Retrieved 29 January 2024.