At 7’9′ tall (236cm), Sun Mingming is the world’s second tallest man and the tallest professional basketball player ever.

Many of you may have heard of Sun, but rarely anyone has ever seen the 7-9 Chinese giant play basketball.

It’s much more likely to have seen him in his guest appearance on Rush Hour 3 or in the documentary, “Anatomy of a Giant,” that aired on the Discovery Health channel,

That doesn’t mean that the nearly-400lb, 25 year old hasn’t been playing basketball in his attempts to reach his goal of playing in the NBA. (Follow Sun Mingming’s journey around the world)

“The NBA is a realistic goal.” said Sun. “I love playing basketball and will do anything the NBA asks of me in order to get an opportunity.”

If Mingming ever makes it to the league, he would become the tallest player in NBA history by surpassing Manute Bol and Gheorghe Muresan, whom were both 7-7.  Sun’s countryman, Yao Ming, is the tallest active NBA player at 7’6.

A Long Three Years
Back in 2005, when Sun was 22 years old, he came to the United States and declared for the NBA Draft, but Sun was not selected due to his lack of speed and mobility at his size.

Within the same year, doctors discovered a benign brain tumour pressing against Sun’s pituitary gland. The tumour was preventing the proper production of testosterone, decreasing his stamina and endurance.  Sun would have successful surgery to remove the tumor.

Undaunted, Mingming continued with his dream; he would spend the next several years on the move, playing in professional leagues around the world.

Sun first joined the USBL where he played for the Dodge City Legend.

He where he missed the first game because none of the uniforms fit him. Uniform or not, Ming would play sparingingly (and sometimes not at all) throughout the season registering 9 DNPs out of 32 games.   And out of the 23 games Mingming did get into, he saw less than 5 minutes in  half those game (13).

Sun Mingming’s best game came in a win over Long Island, he registered 4 points, 3 rebounds, and 1 block in 8 minutes of play.  In 23 games of action, Sun totaled just 28 points, 25 rebounds, and 8 blocks.

After an unspectacular debut season in the USBL, Sun went to another professional league, and was signed by the Maryland Nighthawks of the ABA.

Then in March of 2007, Sun was signed by the Grand Rapids Flight (IBL) amidst much fanfare.  After 14 games, he left Michigan to play for Fuerza Regia of the Mexican basketball league (LNBP).

After showing potential in 25 games for Fuerza, Sun would be forced to leave the league to have surgery done to his feet.

After recovering from his surgery, Sun would move back east, donning the jersey of Hamamastu Phoenix of the Japanese Basketball League (BJ).

In 49 games, Sun averaged 7.7  points and 5.7 rebounds per game as well as 67 dunks.  The numbers don’t seem like much, but compared to where he was when he started with the USBL, it’s a significant improvement (and are likely career highs).

“I just want to keep playing basketball,” Sun said after the final game of the season. “Whether it’s here in Japan or in the United States, I hope to keep playing for at least 10 more years.”

Despite the stares, laughter, ignorance, XXXXXXL sweat shirts being too small and feet that are essentially mangled from wearing shoes that were always too small for him (size 20), Sun Mingming persists towards his goal of playing in the NBA.

“The dream that I had when I came to the United States has not changed,” Sun told the AFP. “It will be great if I can play in NBA one day. I will work as hard as I can, do my very best to achieve that goal. But if it still can’t happen in the end, at least I will have no regret.”

Links and Resources: Discuss: Sun Mingming – 7-9 Chinese Giant (Interbasket), China’s Sun Mingming shining in Japanese League (AFP), Super-tall Sun Ming Ming dreams of NBA career (China Daily), Seven Foot Nine.com (Official Sun Mingming website), Sun Mingming taller than Yao Ming Video (YouTube, thanks Sinobball)