The Tallest NBA Players and Victor Wembanyama
As summer approaches, Wembanyana mania will soon be upon us. Poised to enter the league as a 19 year old already among the tallest NBA players, Victor Wembanyama at 7 ft 2 in is expected to be an all-time talent. But Wembanyama is not the tallest player in NBA history. What about his playstyle separates him from the other tallest NBA players?
In the NBA as of early 2023, the two tallest NBA players are Kristaps Porzingis and Boban Marjanovic, both listed at 7 ft 3 in. Though certain rotation player like Luke Kornet (7 ft 2 in) come next, two of the best known giants are all star centers Rudy Gobert, officially 7 ft 1 in, and Joel Embiid, officially 7 ft even. Just last year, though, the record for tallest NBA player was held by former Central Florida and Celtics center Tacko Fall, towering over the league at 7 ft 6 in.
In the modern NBA, height is extraordinarily important. However, the NBA is a very dynamic league. The tallest NBA players in the past play differently from the tallest players in the NBA today. And, the way the league has changed has altered the importance of height alone. That is, the tallest NBA players today have to be much more versatile than in the past.
We’re going to look at some of the tallest players in the league’s history including a top 12 list here. But then, we’re going to go a step further and look at how height and play styles have evolved along with the rest of the NBA.
Some Notable Giants
Anyone who has picked up a basketball and played in their neighborhood knows how much of an advantage height is in basketball. Some of the most notable players from the early days like Bill Russell (6 ft 10 in), Wilt Chamberlain (7 ft 1 in), and Kareem Abdul-Jabar (7 ft 2 in) were among the tallest players in the NBA.
Through the 90s and 2000s players like Bill Laimbeer (6 ft 11 in) and Shaquille O’Neal (7 ft 1 in) continued to dominate from the center position, overpowering players who tried to guard them. Dikembe Mutombo (7 ft 2 in) and Manute Bol (7 ft 7 in) were defensively-focused centers famous for blocking shots without seemingly having to jump at all.
The modern day tallest NBA players might feel a bit different, though. While Boban and Gobert are bona fide traditional centers, others play a different style of game. In particular, shooting (especially from range) is emphasized now even from the taller players. In particular Kevin Durant (6 ft 10 in) and Kristaps Porzingis (7 ft 3 in) are both among the tallest NBA players but are deadly threats at shooting from range. We’ll return to this later.
The Tallest Players in NBA History
There are many resources on the internet containing lists of the tallest players in NBA history. We’ve recreated a subset of this list here.
Player | (Rk) Height | Player | (Rk) Height |
|---|---|---|---|
Gheorghe Muresan | (1) 7 ft 7 in | Chuck Nevitt | (7) 7 ft 5 in |
Manute Bol | (1) 7 ft 7 in | Pavel Podkolzin | (7) 7 ft 5 in |
Tacko Fall | (3) 7 ft 6 in | Sim Bhullar | (7) 7 ft 5 in |
Slavko Vranes | (3) 7 ft 6 in | Mark Eaton | (10) 7 ft 4 in |
Shawn Bradley | (3) 7 ft 6 in | Ralph Sampson | (10) 7 ft 4 in |
Yao Ming | (3) 7 ft 6 in | Boban Marjanovic | (10) 7 ft 4 in |
Perhaps the most notable player who is typically given the title of “Tallest player in NBA history” is Manute Bol. While definitely a good player, Manute Bol is far from the best player of all time. In fact, most of the players on this list were situationally good players rather than all time greats. Only Yao Ming and Ralph Sampson belong in the pantheon of “OK, This guy was a problem for every other team”.
In the next section we’re going to begin looking at how the NBA’s perception of height has changed in recent years. To start, we’re going to look at how the height of the players taken first in the NBA draft has decreased over time.
Heights of Number One Overall Picks
One way to measure what the league values in player profiles is by looking at the profiles of the first overall picks in the NBA draft. Sometimes the first overall pick is a player so dominant that there is no question – Kareem Abdul Jabar, Lebron James, and Victor Wembanyama, for example.
Other times, there are a few different players all in the discussion for first overall pick. Certainly in this case, the physical attributes of players can play a role above and beyond what they’ve shown on the court.
For example, just a few years ago Jaxson Hayes was drafted eighth overall with admittedly mediocre high school and college production. His draft position was driven largely because of his rapid height gain and the potential that this gives a player. Take a look at our previous article about NBA draft pick values to help understand how valuable an eighth overall pick actually is.
I think teams got wide-eyed hoping for another Anthony Davis, a former guard who hits a ridiculous growth spurt later in life leading to a center who can shoot and dribble.
We wanted to look at the height of the number one overall picks to see if we could find any trends. Looking back to 1969, the average height of number one overall picks is nearly 6 ft 9 in in this period while the average NBA height is closer to 6 ft 6 in. Certainly number one overall picks tend to be taller than the average NBA player.
But has the league’s emphasis on taller players changed over time? The following graphic shows the height of the number one overall picks over time. The curve is averaged over three year periods to smooth the data and show a clearer relationship.
While the trend is not “can’t miss it even if you tried” obvious, there is still a clear trend with this data. From the early days of the NBA until about 2010, an extreme importance was placed on height with the first overall pick. Having one of the tallest NBA players on your team was a big advantage.
However, starting in the mid 2000s and especially after 2010, the game changed. First overall picks tended to be shorter than they were before. In the 80s, first overall picks averaged between 82 and 85 inches tall. There was a five year stretch where the first overall picks were Ralph Sampson (7 ft 4 in), Hakeem Olajuwon (7 ft 0 in), Patrick Ewing (7 ft 0 in), Brad Daugherty (7 ft 0 in), and David Robinson (7 ft 1 in). Every team wanted a star center.
However, starting in 2008 trends changed dramatically. In 2008, the first overall pick was Derrick Rose (6 ft 3 in). In 2 of the next 3 drafts, John Wall (6 ft 3 in) and Kyrie Irving (6 ft 2 in) were the first overall pick. This trend largely continued with guards becoming more popular picks early in the draft.
What happened?
My hypothesis is that the tallest players in the NBA decreased in value for one significant reason. In the mid 2000s, the three point shot went from a part of the game to perhaps the most important part of the game. In 2004 and 2005, Steve Nash won the NBA MVP award and was one of the best shooters in the history of the game. In 2006, Dirk Nowitzki won the MVP – himself a rare mix of height and elite shooting.
Soon after, Derrick Rose won MVP as a rookie. Kevin Durant won MVP filling a similar role to Nowitzki as a tall, lanky shooting threat. Soon after this, Steph Curry won MVP and the warriors went on to win multiple championships in a very short period of time. We all know the fear that the splash brothers induced in their opponents.
I think these events happening in quick succession showed the extreme value that guards with a knack for shooting can provide. Spacing became king. The value of a rim protector decreased dramatically. A center who can’t score has become a net negative for a team.
All of these aspects combined to one fact: height for the sake of height is no longer enough in the NBA. The tallest players in the NBA now need to do a little more than they did in the past in order to succeed. The tallest NBA players now need to be swiss army knives. And, if they can do this, then the phrase tallest NBA players can become synonymous with best NBA players.
The Future of The Tallest NBA Players
So why is Victor Wembanyama expected to be a generational talent, the best prospect since Lebron James? Surely it isn’t only his 7’2 frame – Bol Bol and Boban had similar frames and didn’t generate nearly this much hype.
Victor Wembanyama is considered such an impressive player because, as many have said, he plays like a guard. He has the skill set of a guard. He can shoot and dribble like a guard. But, at the end of the day, he can block shots and rebound like Rudy Gobert.
This type of player is becoming more popular now. In the last few years, the concept of “positionless basketball” has gained traction. This is the idea that certain players can play anywhere on the court, at any position. A good example is Lebron James who at different times in his career has played point guard, forward, and center.
The tallest prospects now aren’t relying only on their height to get by. The giants are learning to shoot like Kevin Durant, Dirk Nowitzki and Kristaps Porzingis. They are learning to emphasize agility and power like Giannis Antetokounmpo. They are learning to pass, dribble, and facilitate an offense like Ben Simmons who, in the first few years of his career, looked poised to become another all time great.
As the NBA keeps evolving and pushing towards positionless basketball, more will be asked of the tallest NBA players. Height is no longer enough. Height combined with skill is king. So, while Victor Wembanyama is touted as a once-in-a-generation talent, I’m not so sure that we won’t start seeing his facsimiles enter into draft pools increasingly often.
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