By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Let’s check them out!
Gheorghe Muresan
You may find it strange, but Muresan is the only representative from the NBA on the list. Also, the only European one, so we just have to start with him. The Romanian giant (7′ 7 ”) made a name for himself in Europe with Pau Orthez before joining the Washington Bullets (now Wizards) in the NBA. Muresan spent the majority of his NBA career in Washington and his highlight-year was 1994-1995 when he averaged 14,5 points plus 9.6 rebounds per game. He also played for the New Jersey Nets, finishing his stint in the best league int he planet with 9.8 points, 6.4 rebounds per game.
He has also starred in the kinda tear-jerking “My Giant” (correct – he’s the giant in the title) with Billy Crystal.
Kenny George
Standing at 7 ft. 7 in., George could easily slam the ball in without his feet ever leaving the ground. He was the tallest player in the USA when he played with Asheville Bulldogs and posted solid numbers (12 points, 7 rebounds per game) his career took a blow when he had to amputate a part of his right foot during a staphylococcus infection, in October 2008. He made a four-game appearance in the Czech League with Turi Svitany in March 2011.
Mamadou N’Diaye
Not only is he super-tall ( 7’6) but also has a freakishly long wingspan of 8 ft 3. Thus he dunks with minimal, to zero effort. The Senegalese center (“He’s a center? No s…t Sherlock”, you might say right now) notched 12.1 points, 2.4 blocks, and 7.1 rebounds in 2015/2016 in NCAA with Irvine’s Anteaters but wasn’t picked in the 2016 Draft. He has played for the Grand Rapids Drive, the Detroit Pistons D-League affiliate.
Sun Mingming
Eat your heart out Yao Ming! OK, not really. But the tallest basketball player in the world (7 ft, 9 inches) is a category on his own perhaps. Mingming, 33, has been playing pro basketball since 1996, starting with some minor USA teams. He first joined a Chinese club in 2009 when he signed with the Beijing Ducks where he stayed for five years and won two League titles (2012, 2014). Not bad at all.
Paul Sturgess
We also have a Harlem Globetrotter in our midst. He definitely makes the cut, since Sturges sees the world at 7′ 8 and needs just to raise his arms for a dunk. Much like “Little John” in the Robin Hood tale, his nickname in the Globetrotters is “Tiny Paul”. Sturgess spent one year of professional basketball in his native England during 2014-2015 with the Chesire Phoenix of the British League.