Basketball fans look up to their NBA stars but they’d have had to really crane their necks looking up to these five.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Take a bow Manute Bol \u2013 and that in itself took some doing, coming down from the dizzy heights of 2.31m (that’s 7ft 7 in old money).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The late Bol came from the Dinka tribe in Sudan, one of the world’s tallest populations \u2013 his mum was almost seven foot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sharing top honours \u2013 and we mean top \u2013 with Bol is Gheorghe Muresan, the league’s one and only other 2.31m giant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like Bol, Muresan was drafted by Washington \u2013 they like them big in the capital \u2013 and spent seven years in the NBA, winning most improved player in 1995\/96.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first points he ever scored for the Boston Celtics in his first game in October 2019 was a dunk \u2013 a standing dunk!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Montenegrin \u2013 all 2.29m of him \u2013 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He then headed west to enjoy eight successful seasons at Dallas, where he helped the Mavericks reach the Western Conference finals in 2003.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bradley, who starred in the original Space Jam movie, is now wheelchair-bound following an accident out on his bike.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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 \u2013 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":39465,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[203],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n