Who is the tallest player to ever play basketball in the NBA, and who is the tallest right now? What about the shortest players to ever hit the pitch?
If there is one thing that characterizes basketball players, it is their size.
After all, being big is a pretty handy advantage to have as it can allow you to score – or block – and help your team win.
But in a land of giants, who is the greatest player to ever play in the NBA?
Who is currently the tallest in the league and what about the shortest players of all time?
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The greatest NBA player of all time
The tallest player to ever play in the NBA is actually two players.
Sudanese center Manute Bol and Romanian center Gheorghe Muresan were both 7ft 7in tall.
Bol, whose career spanned from 1985 to 1995, played for the likes of the Washington Bullets (now Wizards), Golden State Warriors and Miami Heat.
He played 653 times in the NBA overall, including regular and postseason appearances.
Unfortunately, in June 2010, he passed away from kidney failure.
Muresan, Bol’s greatest NBA player, was drafted in the second round of the 1993 draft by the Bullets.
He ended his 307-game career with a two-year stint with the New Jersey Nets.
However, Bol and Muresan aren’t quite the greatest player the NBA has ever seen.
It goes to Yasutaka Okayama – a Japanese center.
Okayama was selected in the 1981 draft by the Golden State Warriors.
He did not sign with the Warriors and therefore never played in the NBA.
His height of 7 feet 8 inches makes him the holder of the tallest player ever drafted by an NBA team.
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Shortest player on the pitch
The shortest player to play in the NBA is Muggsy Bogues – a point guard who was in Michael Jordan SpaceJam.
Bogues, who was the 12th overall pick in 1987, played for the Bullets, Charlotte Hornets, Warriors and Toronto Raptors.
In total, he played 909 times in the NBA, making the playoffs five times.
Ironically, he played with Bol in 1987-88 at the Bullets.
Their height difference was a significant 2.3 feet.
Current record holders
The NBA’s greatest current player is Boban Marjanovic of the Dallas Mavericks.
Coming in at 7ft 4in, the Serbian center has been around since 2010 – despite not being drafted.
Technically, Tacko Fall, who is 7ft 6in tall, is the tallest player to play in the NBA in 2021/22.
The Senegalese played for the Cleveland Cavaliers in December but was waived in January.
He re-signed with the Cleveland Charge.
Although the Charge are affiliated with the Cavaliers, they do not play in the NBA.
Therefore, neither will fall, starting February 22, 2022.
The current shortest player in the NBA is Facundo Campazzo of the Denver Nuggets.
At a respectable 5-foot-10, the Argentine point guard takes the honor.
Markus Howard is also 5ft 10in tall, but is currently signed for G League Grand Rapid Gold. It’s not the NBA.
The same can be said for Isaiah Thomas.
At 5-foot-9, he’s shorter than Campazzo and Howard, but is currently unsigned to an NBA franchise after recently leaving the Lakers.
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