The average height of an NBA player is usually around 6 feet 6 inches. However, the height range of players in NBA history is over two feet (24 inches), with the tallest player being 7 feet 7 inches tall and the shortest player being 5 feet 3 inches tall.
In NBA history, 14 players were 7-foot-4 or taller. Of the nine, Boston Celtics center Tacko Fall is the only active NBA player.
Two players have been listed as the tallest players in NBA history – Romanian national Gheorghe Muresan and Sudanese national Manute Bol – measuring 7 feet 7 inches. At one point during the 1993-94 season, both players were on the Washington Bullets roster.
MORE: 10 shortest players in NBA history
During his NBA career, Bol (625) played more than double the number of games Muresan (307) did. After this duo, two players registered at 7 feet 6 inches: Chinese national Yao Ming and German-American Shawn Bradley.
| Players | Height | NBA playing careers | |
| 1. | Gheorghe Murésan | 7 feet 7 inches | 1993-2001 |
| Manute Bowl | 7 feet 7 inches | 1985-1995 | |
| 3. | Shawn Bradley | 7 feet 6 inches | 1993-2005 |
| Yao Ming | 7 feet 6 inches | 2002-2011 | |
| 5. | Slavko Vranes | 7 feet 5 inches | 2004 |
| Chuck Nevitt | 7 feet 5 inches | 1982-1994 | |
| Pavel Podkolzin | 7 feet 5 inches | 2004-2006 | |
| Sim Bhullar | 7 feet 5 inches | 2015 | |
| Tacko Chute | 7 feet 5 inches | 2019–present | |
| ten. | Marc Eaton | 7 feet 4 inches | 1982-1993 |
| Rick Smits | 7 feet 4 inches | 1988-2000 | |
| Ralph Sampson | 7 feet 4 inches | 1983-1992 | |
| Boban Marjanovic | 7 feet 4 inches | 2015–present | |
| Priest Lauderdale | 7 feet 4 inches | 1996-98 |
Remarks
- Manute Bol played alongside Muggsy Bogues – the shortest player in NBA history – for the Washington Bullets during the 1987-88 season. The height difference between the two, 28 inches, is the largest ever among teammate duos.
- Yao Ming is the tallest player to play in at least one NBA All-Star Game. He is also the tallest player ever inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
- Chuck Nevitt is the greatest player in NBA history to be part of a championship team when he won his only title with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1985.
- Sim Bhullar, a Canadian national, was the first player of Indian origin to log minutes in an NBA game.
- Tacko Fall, currently with the Cleveland Cavaliers, is the tallest active NBA player on this list. Boban Marjanovic of the Dallas Mavericks is the only active player on the roster.
- Mark Eaton’s career block average of 3.50 is an all-time NBA record. His record 456 blocks during the 1984-85 season is the most ever in NBA history.
The opinions expressed on this page do not necessarily reflect those of the NBA or its clubs.
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