Sun Mingming is one of the tallest professional basketball players in the world, at an astounding 7 feet 9 inches (235 cm). He was born on August 23, 1983, in Bayan County, Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province, China. Played as a center, he is only half an inch taller than Ri Myung Hun, a North Korean player. Sun Mingming is sometimes known as the tallest basketball player ever; however, he is actually shorter than 7’11” Alexander Sizonenko, the tallest basketball player ever, and Suleiman Ali Nashnush.
Sun Mingming Started Playing Basketball at 15
Sun Mingming didn’t even play basketball until he was 15 years old; therefore, his basketball career got off to a really late start. But only two years later, he joined the Heilongjiang Youth Team in 2000, when he was already a towering 6 feet 8.3 inches tall (204 cm). It was here that he tried to master the game of basketball.
A Draftee for the Los Angeles Lakers
Mingming made it onto the 2003 U.S. tour of the Chinese Men’s Basketball Olympic Hope Team. His towering stature attracted the attention of some NBA officials. Mingming later went to the States in the early half of 2005 in search of an NBA contract at the age of 22. He was a draftee in the 2005 NBA draft competition and tried out for the Los Angeles Lakers for a training session or two. However, after this brief tryout with the Lakers, Mingming ended up not being drafted.
Operation for a Malignant Pituitary Mass
Sun Mingming was diagnosed with a tumor in his pituitary gland in 2005. Because of this, he developed acromegaly and hormonal abnormalities, which put his health in jeopardy. Sun Mingming had surgery at Los Angeles’ Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. The operation used one of the most cutting-edge methods available in the USA at the time. The doctors removed the tumor from his brain by inserting a probe into his nasal cavity.
Acromegaly results from excessive growth hormone, causing abnormal enlargement of hands and feet and other symptoms.
A tumor in the pituitary gland is the reason for the world’s tallest people in history, like Robert Wadlow, Sandy Allen, or John Rogan.
Why Sun Mingming Was Not Drafted for the NBA
Despite being one of the tallest professional basketball players in the world with decent agility on the court, the NBA did not draft Sun Mingming for a number of reasons:
- Fundamentals: Sun Mingming lacked the necessary basketball fundamentals to make it at the highest professional level. He was still relatively agile for his height, but his basketball abilities were not there.
- Endurance and strength: A lack of stamina and power, especially for a man of his stature, limited his capabilities for the NBA, where the strongest players play the game.
- Health issues: Sun had a benign tumor linked to his pituitary gland diagnosed in 2005. Overproduction of growth hormone after puberty causes the illness known as acromegaly which limits the physical capabilities of people severely and even makes them bedridden after some time. The NBA teams likely considered Mingming’s health condition during the draft season.
Sun Mingming still persisted in his pursuit of a professional basketball career despite these setbacks. Before returning to China to play for the Beijing Ducks of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), he spent time with many minor league clubs in the United States.
Later in His Basketball Career
Gigantism Forced Him to Play in the Lower Leagues
Even after surgery, Sun Mingming’s gigantism prevented him from keeping up with his height. As a result, he was forced to play in a wide variety of lower-division leagues in countries as diverse as the United States, Mexico, and Japan. Dodge City Legend, a club in the USBL league, signed Sun Mingming on March 30, 2006. The ABA’s Maryland Nighthawks signed him on January 31, 2007. The team’s owner, Tom Doyle, has said, “There’s no question that having Ming here sells tickets.”
On March 11, he was part of a team with four other tall players, all of whom were above 7 feet, including former NBA great Gheorghe Mureșan. This put Sun Mingming into the Guinness Book of World Records as a member of the world’s tallest basketball lineup.
However, there wasn’t a lot of room for Sun Mingming on the Nighthawks. His new professional basketball career began on June 20, 2007, when he signed with Fuerza Regia of Mexico’s Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional. In the 2008–09 season, he was living in Japan and playing professionally with the Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix (now “San-en NeoPhoenix”).
He Played in the CBA (Chinese Basketball Association)
Several Chinese teams showed interest in Sun Mingming when he competed for Heilongjiang in the 11th National Games of China. The Beijing Shougang Ducks signed him to a three-year deal before the 2009–10 season. Sun Mingming had a limited position on the team because of his lack of basketball ability and knowledge.
His Life Off the Court
Sun Mingming was a regular on American talk programs during his tenure there, including ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on October 11, 2006. In addition, he was included in a number of TV documentaries.
He was featured in the pilot episode of the Discovery Health Channel series on October 15, 2006. The popular film “Rush Hour 3,” starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, also featured Sun Mingming in a combat sequence.
He married a former women’s handball player, Xu Yan, in 2013 and later became an actor for two TV shows: “Candle in the Tomb” (a 2016 Chinese TV adventure series) and “The Mystic Nine,” as “Chen Mo”, a 2016 Chinese TV drama series.
