List of tallest players in NBA history

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-seven players have been listed at 7 feet 3 inches (2.21 m) or taller. However, only three are active as of the 2023–24 season: Boban Marjanović of the Houston Rockets, Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs 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. In addition to Yao, Ralph Sampson and Arvydas Sabonis were the only other 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

^		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 (1993–1998) New Jersey Nets (1998–2000)	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 (1985–1988, 1994) Golden State Warriors (1988–1990, 1994) Philadelphia 76ers (1990–1993, 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 (2019–2021) 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 (2002–2011)	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 (1993–1995) New Jersey Nets (1995–1997) Dallas Mavericks (1997–2005)	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 (2004–2006)	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 (1982–1983, 1988–1990) Los Angeles Lakers (1984–1985) Detroit Pistons (1985–1988) 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)	290 lb (132 kg)	Boban Marjanović^	Serbia	San Antonio Spurs (2015–2016) Detroit Pistons (2016–2018) Los Angeles Clippers (2018–2019) Philadelphia 76ers (2019) Dallas Mavericks (2019–2022) Houston Rockets (2022–present)	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 (1982–1993)	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 (1988–2000)	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 (1983–1987) Golden State Warriors (1987–1989) Sacramento Kings (1989–1991) 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 4 in (2.24 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.
7 ft 3 in (2.21 m)	305 lb (138 kg)	Ha Seung-jin	South Korea	Portland Trail Blazers (2005–2006)	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 (1995–2001, 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 (2015–2016) 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 (2009–2011) Houston Rockets (2011–2012) Portland Trail Blazers (2012) Oklahoma City Thunder (2012–2014)	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 (1996–2010) Miami Heat (2010–2011)	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 (1960–1962)	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 (1983–1990) Minnesota Timberwolves (1990–1992) Atlanta Hawks (1992–1993) 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 (2019–2022) Orlando Magic (2022–2023) Phoenix Suns (2023–present)	123	776	6.3	.508	.657	468	3.8	103	0.8	Son of joint second 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 (1997–2000)	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.

Notes

^ 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

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