Shaquille O’Neal was known for his height, but he wasn’t the tallest player in the NBA. Here are 10 players who were shorter than their parents when they were born. Read more in detail here: how tall was shaq at age 13.
NBA stars come in all shapes and sizes. While some players like Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook have parents who are taller than them, others like LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo don’t know their dad’s height at all because he passed away when they were young.
Who says you can’t grow up if your parents are short? According to most scientists, having two parents who are five feet tall eliminates your odds of growing like a weed. However, there are always outliers, and the human body is no exception. When you consider how long the NBA has produced players, you may be shocked to learn that their parents were not genetically friendly.
Seven-footers are expected to have parents that are at least as tall as they are. That isn’t always the case, as it turns out. Some athletes, both contemporary and former, have parents who are relatively short. Take a peek at these ten athletes whose genetic background will astound you.
6’3″ Jeremy Lin
His mother is 5’6″ tall.
His father is 5’6″ tall.
Lin was the first of Chinese or Taiwanese heritage to play in the league, and he was one of the few Asian Americans to do so. He was also the first Asian-American champion. Because two of his players are under six feet tall, Asian history suggests that height is a concern. Lin was 5-foot-3 when he was 15 years tall, but he may have benefited from his grandmother’s assistance.
His maternal grandma is almost six feet tall. This might be the factor that aided Line’s ascension to the top. Because all of his brothers, Joseph and Josh, are under six feet tall, he was fortunate to inherit tall genes. Joseph, his younger brother, is the second tallest player in the Taiwan Super Basketball League, standing at 5-foot-11.
6’3″ Russell Westbrook
His mother is 5’7″ tall.
His father is 5’8″ tall.
Despite his diminutive stature, the future Hall of Fame point guard has never let that stop him. In his career, Westbrook has averaged a triple-double four times. He didn’t have a growth surge until high school, when he grew from 5-foot-8 to 6-foot-3 before starting his freshman year at UCLA.
Raynard, Westbrook’s younger brother, stands at 5-foot-6. Because Westbrook seems to be a real outlier in the family, he must have acquired some excellent genes from someone. If he were just 5-foot-8, the former MVP would be nothing.
6’6″ Michael Jordan
His mother is 5’5″ tall.
His father is 5’8″ tall.
Jordan is the all-time best NBA player. The GOAT, on the other hand, did not originate from a family of tall individuals. His immediate family members were all under six feet tall. Despite what the records say, his father was no taller than 5-foot-9. Jordan was not very tall when he was young, which is understandable. Because of his height, he was unable to make the varsity basketball team his second year.
Scottie Pippen, his teammate, was born to a six-foot-tall mother and a six-foot-one-inch father. Pippen was aware that he would be tall, but Jordan was unaware of this. Jordan, on the other hand, is claimed to have used the playground’s pullup bars to attempt to grow taller. According to legend, Jordan’s mother allegedly advised him to put salt on his shoes and pray every night. He finally towered above his parents, so something must have worked.
6’7″ Kawhi Leonard
His mother is 5’5″ tall.
His father is 6’3″ tall.
Leonard’s father, Mark, was roughly 6-foot-3 in height, which is considered above normal. Because his mother was on the shorter side, you’d anticipate average analytics to play out. Leonard’s father was slain in 2008, while Leonard was 16 years old, at a Compton car wash he ran. He wished he could have seen his kid grow to his full height, as well as the championship heights he achieved.
Leonard is a top-5 player in the league, having won Defensive Player of the Year and two Finals MVPs. The height disparity is difficult to explain, but one may rejoice in the good fortune he has accumulated since that fateful day.
6’8″ Gordon Hayward
His mother is 5’10” tall.
His father is 5’10” tall.
HowTheyPlay is to thank for this.
Hayward has aspired to play in the NBA since he was five years old. With both parents being under six feet tall, this fantasy seemed to be just that. His freshman year, he was 5-foot-11, and the doctor said he would only grow to 6-foot-2. Instead of playing forward, Hayward started to polish his talents as a guard.
Hayward’s ability to play as a guard with the ball in his hands stemmed from his anxiety of not being tall enough. He began his career as a guard, but as he gained in stature, he became a forward. Hayward was on the verge of retiring from basketball to pursue a career in tennis, but he was convinced to remain. He grew to 6-foot-8 his final year of high school, two years after almost quitting.
6’10” Moses Malone
His mother is 5’2″ tall.
His father is 5’6″ tall.
If he hadn’t blossomed like a plant, the greatest offensive rebounder of all time may not have been viewed like this. The three-time MVP is almost seven feet tall, but his mother is just a few inches taller. Malone is said to have tiny hands for a 6-foot-10 guy, which contributed to his inability to dunk and handle the ball like many other great guards.
Given the conditions, you’d anticipate a medical oddity. Instead, he made history as the first player to join the NBA straight out of high school. Malone put forth a lot of effort to overcome his tiny hands and become one of the top rebounders in the game. It took him until he was 19 years old to attain his full height.
7’1″ Wilt Chamberlain
His mother is 5’9″ tall.
His father is 5’8″ tall.
His parents are more than a foot taller than the most dominating center of all time. Chamberlain’s father, William, was barely 5 feet 8 inches tall, while his mother, Olivia, was a few inches higher. His mother is claimed to have told Chamberlain tales of his great-grandfather, who was a farmer and was approximately 7 feet tall. That might explain how he obtained his stature.
Chamberlain inherited tall genes from his father, but not from his mother. Wilbert, his younger brother, grew to reach 6-foot-5. When he joined Philadelphia Overbrook High School, he was 6-foot-11 and had a significant edge over the other students. He took that edge to the NBA, where he established league rebounding records and scored 100 points in a single game.
7’5″ Tacko Fall
His mother is 5’8″ tall.
His father is 6’0″ tall.
The Senegalese giant is one of the world’s tallest living people. Because sportsmen desire to show a statement by leaping over him, he has been a regular visitor at the Slam Dunk Contest. With all of this height, you’d assume at least one of his parents would be at least 6-foot-5, but that isn’t the case. Fall was the same height as Yao Ming and Shawn Bradley and had tall parents, but not Yao Ming.
Fall’s parents are both taller than normal, but it doesn’t explain the almost 1.5-foot difference. Fall doesn’t have a problem with pituitary glands, therefore family genetics may have had a role. Fall has two 6-foot-8 uncles, and his grandpa was 6-foot-6.
7’5″ Boban Marjanovic
His mother is 5’6″ tall.
His father is 5’9″ tall.
NBA.com is responsible for this image.
Marjanovic now has the unofficial honor of having the biggest hands in NBA history. His title was not given to him by his parents, who had a two-foot height difference between them. Marjanovic’s gigantism was caused by a problem with his pituitary gland. At 6-foot-10, he was taller than most NBA players by the age of 14.
Marjanovic isn’t the quickest player on the court, therefore he’s been relegated to the role of backup center. Based on his demeanor as shown in recordings from the NBA Bubble in 2020, he is referred to as a “gentle giant.”
7’7″ Gheorghe Muresan
His mother is 5’7″ tall.
His father is 5’9″ tall.
Muresan is one of the league’s two tallest players, sharing the record with Manute Bol. Bol does not cut since both of his parents were tall. His mother was 6-foot-10, while his father stood 6-foot-8. Bol’s great-grandfather was a towering 7-foot-10 man. Muresan’s parents were of normal height, yet he grew to be Romania’s tallest man.
His height was most likely caused by a problem with his pituitary gland. He didn’t start playing basketball until he was 14 years old, with the Washington Bullets and the New Jersey Nets. He liked soccer, but owing to his 7-foot size at the time, he was pushed to try basketball. His basketball career was cut short due to injuries, but his height is still a fascinating tale. His height has already been handed down to his son, who is now 6-foot-8, thanks to his wife Liliane (6-foot-1).
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