Tall Former NBA Basketball Players that Have Oddly Come Up in Conversation Recently

I do not think it is humanly possible to explain the content of this post any further than the title of the post has done already.

So.

....

#00 - Robert Parrish


#11 - Manute Bol
(ironically standing with Mugsy Bogues, and inexplicably wearing a suave fedora and holding quite possibly the boxiest bass guitar ever, connected to an amp 1/2 the size of dear ol' Mugsy, and, is that a small cartoon hippopotamus playing the drums in the corner?)

(added bonus - Funniest Song I've ever heard - Ballad of Manute Bol)


#76 - Shawn Bradley


#55 - Dikembe Mutombo

(hmm, lots of Sixers...)


#11 - Yao Ming


#77 - George Muresan

Finally, I somehow stumbled upon this, kindness of the folks at NBA Giants :

It should be pointed out that over 90 percent of all NBA players in the modern league era are listed by their heights with shoes on. However, all NBA players have the option of being listed by either their height with shoes, or without shoes. In the cases of all 5 NBA giants above, they were listed by height without shoes.

Chuck Nevitt, Yao Ming, and Shawn Bradley, all chose to be listed by their barefoot heights. Nevitt would have been listed at 7'6" with shoes, Yao at 7'7" with shoes, and Bradley at 7'7" with shoes, had they opted to be listed by the NBA at their height with shoes on.

Bol and Muresan chose to be listed at their heights with shoes on. So Bol, who measured at 7'6 3/4" barefoot when he entered the NBA was listed at 7'7", his height with shoes, rounded down. Muresan was 7'6 1/2" when he entered the NBA, so he was then listed at 7'7", his height with shoes, rounded down. Bol grew another 1/4" to 7'7" even barefoot, and Muresan grew another 1/2" to 7'7" even barefoot as well.

Thus, their heights with shoes on, then should have been updated to 7'8" by the NBA. However, their heights were simply never updated by the NBA. So they too ended up being listed at their barefoot heights. Many people incorrectly believe that the heights for these 5 above players are their heights with shoes on, since that is how the vast majority of NBA players are listed. But in the cases of the 5 NBA giants above, they actually were/are listed by their barefoot heights.

It is comforting to know that someone else has taken the time to think about and discuss this topic. As I had said in the title, the above tall former NBA players (and one current, I now realize..) have all come up in conversations that I have had with several different people over the past week or so.

Hope you enjoyed this as much as I did.