Talk:List of tallest players in NBA history

Manute Bol's listed height
Manute Bol is listed by the NBA as being 7 foot 6 inches. However, it appears that he was measured at 7 foot 6.75 inches by Guinness World Records, and I now find that his Wikipedia page states "During his NBA career, Bol was listed at 7 ft 7 in (2.31 m) tall" with accompanying source (in the form of a book citation). Robrayfl raised objections a few days ago, arguing that Bol should appear second in our list because listing him as 7' 6" and placing him below others of that same height was inaccurate and might "deceive" the reader. I agreed to move him up in the list but kept his height as 7' 6" per the NBA source provided, which seemed like a sensible compromise. Not content with that, Robrayfl tried changing the listed height to the "more precise" 7' 6.75" which is clearly not what our source says!

Does anyone know why Manute Bol was listed at 7' 7" while playing, but the official NBA source has knocked an inch off him? Robrayfl is clearly offended by this for some reason and quite determined to give Bol his missing three quarters of an inch. I've tried explaining that the "facts" cannot be changed at whim without a source, but I'm fully expecting Robrayfl to make a further attempt. I'm concerned that I might end up inadvertantly getting involved in an edit war here, so I thought I should bring it up on the Talk page to explain my actions. I don't know anything about basketball and have no particular interest in it, my only involvement here is as a pending changes reviewer. Rodney Baggins (talk) 22:05, 24 May 2020 (UTC)
 * I just happened to notice this, and it struck me as odd. The last print NBA Encyclopedia from 2000 lists him at 7'7", as do the Sporting News NBA registers from 1993 and 1994. I'll start a discussion at the NBA Wikiproject. Zagal e jo^^^ 23:33, 18 June 2020 (UTC)

Height comparison between Gheorghe Muresan and Shawn Bradley
Just a literal observation here. I don't know what sources are responsible for compiling these statistics on height, but I just viewed an actual photograph from 1994 of Gheorghe Muresan and Shawn Bradley standing back to back on the court at the old Philadelphia Spectrum and Bradley clearly appears to be the taller of the two. Looks to be roughly an inch taller. It is evident at the top of their heads, but also at the shoulders. It's not empirical (well, it sort of is because empirical evidence includes direct observation -- but photos can be tricky things*), but it looks pretty convincing. Here is a link to the photo in question if anyone is interested in comparing for themselves: https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/gheorghe-muresan-of-the-washington-bullets-and-shawn-news-photo/690926464

I doubt there's any way to verify this discrepancy, but I thought it was worth noting.


 * A quick note on perspective: If the photographer was standing anywhere off angle from squarely perpendicular to the center point between the two, the visual distortion is capable of creating a false impression. For example, if the photographer was standing slightly off center to Bradley's side (to the right), it would place Bradley slightly closer and Muresan slightly further away. That slight change in perspective could be enough to make Bradley appear taller when he actually is not. It's a valid consideration, but I would encourage anyone interested to examine the photo for themselves and be your own judge.

Serge Zwikker?
Only played one season in the NBA but documented at 2.21m / 7'3" 192.34.142.166 (talk) 03:10, 2 February 2022 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress
There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:National Basketball Association which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 13:04, 28 February 2024 (UTC)