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If you don't know the story of Wadlow- here is an interesting documentary about him



He sadly had foot problems which eventually killed him (an infection in his foot led to sepsis).

Watching the documentary got me thinking about how good he could have been at basketball if not for his foot problems.
In the documentary, the athletic director of his HS indicated that they were going to have him play basketball but couldn't find any basketball shoes for him.

Assuming no health problems (as I said, a thought experiment), how good would a nearly 9 foot tall player be? He obviously wouldn't be able to dribble, but there is no way anybody could stop him from getting close to the basket and getting his shot off- he wasn't skinny- he weighed over 430 pounds. His gigantic hands would likely make any perimeter shooting very difficult though.

On defense it would be very hard to get a shot off over him, but obviously the movement problems would probably make Boban seem like Carl Lewis comparatively.

Well, he died from an infected blister from a poorly fitted ankle brace. The man had a ton of joint problems and other various health issues. Even if he didn't die at 22 from sepsis, he was very unhealthy. He was too big to have any future in sports. He was walking with a cane in his teenage years.

I'm trying to imagine myself posting up or guarding someone four feet tall who has infinitely more ability. I don't think it works. I'm assuming I'm average in every way except my height.

My guess is this guy would make Tacko Fall look like a prime Jordan moving around on the court and Tacko might have spend to spend his 2nd year as a 2-way contract for the Celtics.

Sun Mingming is 7'9" and it didn't worked out well for him.


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I'm guessing his standing reach would be at least 12' so any league with FIBA type live-rim rules would definitely be interesting.

Looks like he could never fill out his frame because it never stopped growing and it caused a lot of problems for his legs. Can't play sports when just walking to the fridge is an activity in itself

People that tall cant even walk without 2 canes most of the time , you want them to run back and worth on basketball court? Its not happening. Slavko Vranes at 7'7 was probably tallest we could get who can still play the game.

ha ha I've thought about this and I think it wouldn't work for him because clearly he wouldn't be mobile enough to do much except stand near the basket and his blocks would mostly be goaltending because the shots would be on their way down. It wouldn't work. You know what COULD work? A Sumo wrestling hockey goaltender. They'd literally block the entire net. All they'd need to be able to do is handle their stick and stand up on skates and they'd be elite!!

Still a foot and a half taller than Yao, but kind of goes to show what a freak Yao was. I know he too ended up having a lot of health issues himself, but he was still able to have some very productive years and was an excellent, All-Star player at his peak. He got a bad rap as being “soft” or whatever, but the guy accomplishing what he did despite his body being way bigger than he could support especially in such a demanding sport like basketball was remarkable.

Had no range. Not being able to shoot three pointers would have kept him on the bench.

You have to be able to shoot three pointers to be remotely decent in today's game.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:Had no range. Not being able to shoot three pointers would have kept him on the bench.

You have to be able to shoot three pointers to be remotely decent in today's game.

He could just reach out and dunk from behind the 3-point line!

Again, it is a flawed premise on my part- obviously a guy that tall would have health problems- I'm just saying ignore that for the sake of argument. Let's say he could run on his own with no cane, no injuries- could a guy that big (again, it wasn't just his height- but he was well over 400 pounds too) really be stopped on offense? If he parked just outside the lane you could throw him alley oops all game long. However, as I said there is no way he could dribble the ball without it getting stolen.

HMFFL wrote:Sun Mingming is 7'9" and it didn't worked out well for him.


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I just found an article about the tallest players ever and how they struggle

https://www.theringer.com/2018/4/6/17206550/giant-week-too-tall-basketball-sun-mingming-neil-fingleton

cookieman wrote:I'm guessing his standing reach would be at least 12' so any league with FIBA type live-rim rules would definitely be interesting.

He just wouldn't be able to play defense. Boban routinely played off the floor because he's too slow, this guy would like 100x worse.

What about Angus MacAskill?

The guy was 7'9" / 475lbs and reportedly the tallest human ever who didn't suffer from any kind of unusual growth condition. Had the largest non-obese chest measurement ever recorded. Very well-proportioned body and reportedly quite athletic. Likely the strongest human ever to exist. He used to tour with the circus as a giant/strongman act.

The palm of his hand was 2 inches wider than an NBA basketball.

He could walk around carrying barrels that weighed more than Celtics Shaq under each arm.

The guy next to him is Kobe's height:

Egg Nog wrote:What about Angus MacAskill?

The guy was 7'9" / 475lbs and reportedly the tallest human ever who didn't suffer from any kind of unusual growth condition. Had the largest non-obese chest measurement ever recorded. Very well-proportioned body and reportedly quite athletic. Likely the strongest human ever to exist. He used to tour with the circus as a giant/strongman act.

The palm of his hand was 2 inches wider than an NBA basketball.

He could walk around carrying barrels that weighed more than Celtics Shaq under each arm.

The guy next to him is Kobe's height:

Wait, hold on, was he a Yankee or Confederate? That's the only thing i can think about after seeing this photo.

Edit: Canadian, damn

Never mind basketball, I’m just trying to imagine standing next to someone 8’11.

The Comedian wrote:Never mind basketball, I’m just trying to imagine standing next to someone 8’11.

I stood next to a life size image of Wadlow in Seattle years ago. I'm only 5'9". Felt impossible.

On a side note, his life story is quite sad. He seemed like a genuinely good guy. If he were born a few decades later he likely would have lived a lot longer as medical advancements for his condition were discovered. He wouldn't have been as tall, but he would have had a longer life.

The Comedian wrote:Never mind basketball, I’m just trying to imagine standing next to someone 8’11.

You can watch this as many times as you want and it still doesn't make sense.