This is a list of the tallest players in National Basketball Association history. It is currently topped by the 7feet Romanian Gheorghe Mureșan, taken by the Washington Bullets as the number 30 overall pick in the 1993 NBA draft.[1]
As of 2024, twenty-eight players have been listed at 7inchesft3inchesin (ftin) or taller. Four are active as of the season: Boban Marjanović of the Houston Rockets, Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs, Zach Edey of the Memphis Grizzlies, and Bol Bol of the Phoenix Suns. The tallest player inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is 7feet Yao Ming. Yao, Ralph Sampson and Arvydas Sabonis are the only players 7 feet 3 inches or taller selected to the Hall of Fame.
Yasutaka Okayama, a 7feet Japanese basketball player picked 171st overall in the seventh round of the 1981 NBA draft by the Golden State Warriors, is the tallest player to ever be drafted for the NBA.[2] However, he never played in the NBA.[3]
| ^ | Active NBA player | |||||||
| Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame | ||||||||
| GP | Games played | Pts | Points | PPG | Points per game | |||
| FG% | Field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage | Reb | Rebounds | |||
| RPG | Rebounds per game | Blk | Blocks | BPG | Blocks per game | |||
| Height | Weight | Player | Nationality | Teams | GP | Pts | PPG | FG% | FT% | Reb | RPG | Blk | BPG | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7feet | 3030NaN0 |   | Washington Bullets (–) New Jersey Nets (–) | 307 | 3,020 | 9.8 | .573 | .644 | 1,957 | 6.4 | 455 | 1.5 | Won 1996 NBA Most Improved Player Award.[4] | ||
| 7feet | 2000NaN0 | Washington Bullets (–,) Golden State Warriors (–,) Philadelphia 76ers (–,) Miami Heat | 625 | 1,599 | 2.6 | .407 | .561 | 2,647 | 4.2 | 2,086 | 3.3 | Played alongside the shortest player in NBA history, Muggsy Bogues, during the season for the Washington Bullets; their difference in height was 28 inches (71 cm). | |||
| 7feet | 3110NaN0 |  | Boston Celtics (–) Cleveland Cavaliers | 37 | 82 | 2.2 | .673 | .320 | 90 | 2.4 | 30 | 0.8 | |||
| 7feet | 3100NaN0 |  | Houston Rockets (–) | 481 | 9,196 | 19.1 | .525 | .832 | 4,467 | 9.3 | 912 | 1.9 | Tallest player to play in at least one All-Star Game. Also tallest player inducted into the Hall of Fame. | ||
| 7feet | 2750NaN0 |  | Philadelphia 76ers (–) New Jersey Nets (–) Dallas Mavericks (–) | 832 | 6,752 | 8.1 | .457 | .716 | 5,268 | 6.3 | 2,119 | 2.5 | Born to American parents in the former West Germany. | ||
| 7feet | 3600NaN0 |  | Sacramento Kings | 3 | 2 | 0.7 | .500 | — | 1 | 0.3 | 1 | 0.3 | First NBA player of Indian descent. Played 16 seconds in his debut on April 7, 2015. | ||
| 7feet[5] | 2750NaN0 |  | Portland Trail Blazers | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | .000 | — | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | Played in one game, on against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Played 3 minutes, with one shot attempt from the field (missed) and one personal foul. Vraneš was officially listed as 7'5" while playing in the NBA, and has since grown taller (7'6" or 2.30 m), according to most sources. | ||
| 7feet | 2600NaN0 |  | Dallas Mavericks (–) | 6 | 4 | 0.7 | .000 | .500 | 9 | 1.5 | 1 | 0.1 | |||
| 7feet | 2170NaN0 | | Houston Rockets (–, –) Los Angeles Lakers (–) Detroit Pistons (–) Chicago Bulls San Antonio Spurs | 155 | 251 | 1.6 | .438 | .589 | 239 | 1.5 | 111 | 0.7 | Tallest player to win an NBA Championship. | ||
| 7feet | 3250NaN0 | | Atlanta Hawks Denver Nuggets | 74 | 255 | 3.4 | .472 | .554 | 143 | 1.9 | 26 | 0.4 | |||
| 7feet | 3050NaN0 | ^ | | Memphis Grizzlies (-present) | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 0 | — | 0 | — | ||
| 7feet | 2900NaN0 | ^ | San Antonio Spurs Detroit Pistons (–) Los Angeles Clippers (–) Philadelphia 76ers Dallas Mavericks (–) Houston Rockets (–present) | 296 | 1,709 | 5.8 | .574 | .766 | 1107 | 3.7 | 93 | 0.3 | |||
| 7feet | 2750NaN0 | | Utah Jazz (–) | 875 | 5,216 | 6.0 | .458 | .649 | 6,939 | 10.8 | 3,064 | 3.5 | He set records for most blocked shots per game in a single season (5.56 bpg in) and for an entire career (3.50 bpg)—both marks still stand today. One-time NBA All-Star. | ||
| 7feet | 2650NaN0 | Indiana Pacers (–) | 867 | 12,871 | 14.8 | .507 | .773 | 5,277 | 6.1 | 1,111 | 1.3 | One-time NBA All-Star. | |||
| 7feet | 2280NaN0 | | Houston Rockets (–) Golden State Warriors (–) Sacramento Kings (–) Washington Bullets | 456 | 7,039 | 15.4 | .486 | .661 | 4,011 | 8.8 | 752 | 1.6 | Three-time College national player of the year, #1 pick in the 1983 NBA draft, four-time All-Star, member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. | ||
| 7feet | 2100NaN0 | ^ |  | San Antonio Spurs (–present) | 71 | 1,522 | 21.4 | .465 | .796 | 755 | 10.6 | 254 | 3.6 | Drafted first overall in the 2023 NBA draft. | |
| 7feet | 3050NaN0 |  | Portland Trail Blazers (–) | 46 | 70 | 1.5 | .519 | .500 | 67 | 1.5 | 13 | 0.3 | Only Korean player to play in the NBA. | ||
| 7feet | 2920NaN0 |  | Portland Trail Blazers (–,) | 470 | 5,629 | 12.0 | .500 | .786 | 3,436 | 7.3 | 494 | 1.1 | Sabonis was originally drafted into the NBA in 1986 (Rd. 1, #24 overall), but was not allowed to play in the NBA for most of his career due to restrictions set by the former Soviet Union. | ||
| 7feet | 2750NaN0 | Washington Wizards | 6 | 11 | 1.8 | .500 | .500 | 4 | 0.7 | 1 | 0.2 | ||||
| 7feet | 2650NaN0 |  | Atlanta Hawks (–) Cleveland Cavaliers | 13 | 33 | 2.5 | .625 | .273 | 32 | 2.5 | 12 | 0.9 | Only Cape Verdean player to play in the NBA. | ||
| 7feet | 2630NaN0 |  | Memphis Grizzlies (–) Houston Rockets (–) Portland Trail Blazers Oklahoma City Thunder (–) | 224 | 483 | 2.2 | .567 | .578 | 595 | 2.7 | 184 | 0.8 | Only Tanzanian player to play in the NBA. | ||
| 7feet | 2600NaN0 | | Cleveland Cavaliers (–) Miami Heat (–) | 771 | 10,616 | 13.8 | .475 | .780 | 5,904 | 7.7 | 1,269 | 1.6 | Two-time NBA All-Star. | ||
| 7feet | 2560NaN0 | Utah Jazz | 12 | 24 | 2.0 | .440 | 1.000 | 15 | 1.3 | 2 | 0.2 | ||||
| 7feet | 2500NaN0 |  | Toronto Raptors Utah Jazz | 15 | 26 | 1.7 | .308 | .625 | 36 | 2.4 | 3 | 0.2 | |||
| 7feet | 2350NaN0 | | Syracuse Nationals (–) | 143 | 786 | 5.5 | .347 | .591 | 949 | 6.6 | — | — | |||
| 7feet | 2300NaN0 | | Milwaukee Bucks (–) Minnesota Timberwolves (–) Atlanta Hawks (–) Sacramento Kings | 681 | 4,599 | 6.8 | .467 | .628 | 2,986 | 4.4 | 750 | 1.1 | |||
| 7feet | 2200NaN0 | ^ | Denver Nuggets (–) Orlando Magic (–) Phoenix Suns (–present) | 123 | 776 | 6.3 | .508 | .657 | 468 | 3.8 | 103 | 0.8 | Son of joint tallest player in NBA history, Manute Bol | ||
| 7feet | 2120NaN0 | | Los Angeles Clippers (–) | 130 | 502 | 3.9 | .471 | .606 | 372 | 2.9 | 163 | 1.3 | During his collegiate career, Closs averaged 5.9 blocks per game, which is the NCAA Division I record. |