Dallas Mavericks have the tallest players in the NBA
The current tallest player in the NBA is a member of the G league, standing at an incredible 7-foot-6. The next two tallest both play for the Dallas Mavs.
The NBA produces some tall talent. And I mean, really tall. It’s a tie for the tallest players in the history of the league between Gheorghe Muresan and Manute Bol, both standing at 7-foot-7. The current tallest player in the 2021-22 season is just a smidge shorter than that, at 7-foot-6. (It feels more correct to say “less tall” than “shorter” here though.)
In basketball, height does matter…most of the time. Of course, you have to have the physical abilities as well. Regulation height for a professional basketball goal is 10 feet tall. In theory, the closer you are to that, the easier it will be to get the ball in the basket. In the NBA, the average height is 6′6″, which for some context, is about 9 inches taller than the typical adult male in the US. Of course, it’s not always the case that the taller the player, the better he is, but it should give a player a slight edge.
There are 23 players in the league currently who are 7-feet or taller. Seven of those are 7-foot-1. Two of the top five tallest belong to the Dallas Mavericks. The tallest, Tacko Fall, played for the Cavaliers until January 2022 when he was acquired by the Cleveland Charge. The Cavaliers have another player in the top five, but only as of very recently - he played for the Mavs for the majority of the season. There’s quite a difference between the first- and second-tallest though. The tallest player of the 2021-22 season is Tacko Fall at 7′6″. Next is Dallas Mavs’ Boban Marjanovic at 7′3″.
Current NBA players over 7-feet tall
Tacko Fall - 7′6″
Tacko Fall is by far the tallest player in the league this season. He was on a two-way contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers and NBA’s G-League team, the Cleveland Charge. In January, he was waived by the Cavaliers and re-acquired by the Charge. He is 25 years old and from Senegal.
Boban Marjanovic - 7′3″
Marjanovic plays for the Dallas Mavericks. He is from Serbia and also plays for the Serbian National Team. He is 33 years old.
Kristaps Porzingis - 7′3″
Currently playing for the Dallas Mavericks, Porzingis was selected fourth overall in the 2015 NBA Draft. He is from Latvia and played for European teams before entering the NBA. He is 26 years old.
Bol Bol - 7′2″
Bol Bol, who spent the 2021-22 season playing for the Denver Nuggets, was traded to the Orlando Magic in January 2022. He is the son of Manute Bol, who was tied for the tallest player in the history of the NBA. Bol Bol is 21 years old and from Sudan.
Moses Brown - 7′2″
Moses Brown played for the Dallas Mavericks until February 2022, and is the only US native player over 7-feet tall. He went undrafted in 2019. After he was released from the Mavs, he signed a contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Jakob Poeltl - 7′1″
Poeltl plays for the San Antonio Spurs. He is 25 years old and from Austria. He was selected ninth overall in the 2016 Draft by the Toronto Raptors.
Rudy Gobert - 7′1″
The Utah Jazz center is from France. He was picked 27th overall in the 2013 Draft and at 29 years old, he has won Defensive Player of the Year three times, All-Star twice, and All-NBA player four times.
After this, there are 16 players who are 7-feet tall:
Frank Kaminsky - Phoenix Suns (2019-2022), USA, 28
*Kaminsky was waived from the Suns in April 2022
JaVale McGee - Phoenix Suns, USA, 33
Mo Bamba - Orlando Magic - USA, 23
Robin Lopez - Orlando Magic, USA, 33
Isaiah Hartenstein - LA Clippers, Germany, 23
Ivica Zubac - LA Clippers, Croatia, 24
Willie Cauley-Stein - Dallas Mavericks (2019-2022), USA, 28
*Cauley-Stein played on the Mavs’ team until January 2022 and in February, the Philadelphia 76ers signed him to a 10-day contract. He was waived in March 2022.
Aleksej Pokusevski - Oklahoma City Thunder, Serbia, 19
Alex Len - Sacramento Kings, Ukraine, 28
Brook Lopez - Milwaukee Bucks, USA, 33
Dewayne Dedmon - Miami Heat, USA, 32
Goga Bitadze - Indiana Pacers, Georgia, 22
Hassan Whiteside - Utah Jazz, USA, 32
Joel Embiid - Philadelphia 76ers, Cameron, 27
Mitchell Robinson - New York Knicks, USA, 23
Nick Richards - Charlotte Hornets, Jamaica, 23