The Tall Men of Basketball (part 1)
In basketball, the rule of thumb is that the taller you are, the better you will be. This is true MOST of the time. Tall people have dominated the sport ever since it began. They have the obvious advantage of height, and strength.
On the other hand, they lack speed and maneuverability. In basketball’s rich history, there have been a large number of extremely tall people but even in their midst there were those who stood above the rest (literally). They are the kind of people who do
not need a ladder when they have to change a light bulb. This article lists the top ten tallest basketball players (starting from shortest to tallest).
Priest Lauderdale
The first person on our list is Priest Lauderdale. He is one of basketball’s least known players with only two seasons under his belt, playing for the NBA. Lauderdale was born in Chicago, Illinois on August 31, 1973. Lauderdale
played for Central State University at college level. He was signed on by the NBA in 1996 by the Atlanta Hawks. He played for them for one season and was traded to the Denver Nuggets in 1997. After his season with the Nuggets, Lauderdale decided to hang his
abnormally large jersey on the wall and quit from the NBA. However, he played in Iran and China during the years, 2007-2009.
Ralph Sampson
Unlike Lauderdale, Ralph Sampson stayed in the NBA for more than two years. Even now he is known as the greatest college level basketball players of all time. He was born in Harrisonburg, Virginia on the 7th of July,
1960. At 7 feet 4 inches, he easily made the list of tallest basketball players. He started playing basketball in high school and went on playing for his college. He was drafted by the NBA in 1983 by the Houston Rockets, purely on his size. He played in the
All-Star Game and won the NBA rookie of the year award. In the 1984-1985 season, Sampson had his best campaign with an average of 22.1 points and 10.4 rebounds. He earned a spot on the All-NBA second Team and played in the 1985 NBA All-Stars game (achieving
that game’s MVP award while he was at it). In the next season, the Rockets won the series against the Los Angeles Lakers. During this game, Sampson proved his worth to the world by scoring the game winning basket at a tied game with only one second left on
the clock. During the finals against the Boston Celtics, Sampson experienced an injury to his back that would later result in him being traded to the Golden State Warriors. His back and knees getting worse, Sampson could never play to his full caliber in the
next four seasons. He was traded again to the Sacramento Kings. His time with the Kings was very poor and his statistics fell drastically. Released by the Kings in 1991-1992 season, Sampson started playing for the Washington Bullets. He only played for ten
days before being let go. Sampson only played a total of 441 games in his career. This number is almost half less than the 820 he was supposed to play.
Rik Smits
Rik Smits was born in Eindhoven, Netherlands on August 23rd, 1966. He measured a whopping 7 feet and 4 inches. He was drafted to the Indiana Pacers in 1988 and spent his entire career with them. Due to the fact that
he was from Netherlands, his friends and teammates started calling him the Dunkin Dutchman. Actually, Smits was supposed to be a backup for player Steve Stipanovich, but when Stipanovich suffered a tragic career ending injury, Smits stepped in to fill his
spot. As soon as he started, Smits averaged double digit points, and won the All-Rookie First Team Honors. Smits was considered to be the number two player on the Pacers team. He performed brilliantly during the playoffs, and this won the hearts of his many
fans. In 1998, Smits’ name was coined in the Eastern Conference All-Star team and achieved 10 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Because he was tall, Smits was plagued by foot problems. He retired at the turn of the century in 1999 (after the 1999-2000 season).
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