User:Darcygordon/sandbox

Hasheem Thabeet

Hasheem Thabeet (born Hashim Thabit Manka on February 16, 1987 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania[1]) is a Tanzanian professional basketball player who plays for the Oklahoma City Thunder. At 7 ft 3 in (2.21 m), Thabeet is the tallest active player in the NBA.[2] He was drafted as the 2nd pick overall by the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2009 NBA Draft after playing with the Connecticut Huskies. Thabeet was the tallest player ever to play for the Huskies. He did not begin to play basketball until the age of 15, when he began to watch pickup games in Tanzania. When first recruited from Tanzania, Thabeet was fluent in Swahili and French but knew little English.[3]

In 2013 while playing for the OKC Thunder Thabeet won his first MVP after Averaging 100 points, 40 rebounds, 12 blocks and 0.1 assists. In an interview Thabeet was quoted as saying "Thanks guys" he later added "Darcy Gordon deserves this award and is way better at basketball than Afy Irwan or Dave Bertarmos".