Manute Bol was born in Sudan in 1962, though he doesn’t have an officially recorded birth date. The men and women in his family are incredibly tall, and his great-grandfather reached the mind-blowing height of 7’10″, which was even taller than Bol himself.
Bol is still one of the tallest players the NBA has ever known. After a decade in the NBA, Manute Bol easily became a fierce paint-defender. However, at a height of 7’7, he had issues staying healthy and experienced health problems due to his size.
Loek Van Mil – 7’1″
Currently, Dutchman Loek van Mil plays for Adelaide Bite of the Australian Baseball League. The 34-year-old stands at 7’1 and is considered the tallest baseball player in the world.
Van Mil's long wingspan enables him to throw an impressive average speedball of 95 miles per hour (or 153 km/h), so he’s a force to be reckoned with!
The Great Khali – 7’2″
Dalip Singh Rana, or The Great Khali, as he’s best known, is a force in the ring. At a height of 7’2, The Great Khali goes down as the eighth tallest professional wrestler in 2014, and he is also the fourth-tallest wrestler in WWE history as of 2017.
In 2007, the man won the World Heavyweight Championship and became the first Indian man to win that title. Some sites even claim that he’s actually the tallest active wrestler. Either way, you spin it, the man’s a giant.
Michael Phelps – 6’4″
Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time and America’s golden boy dedicated his whole life to becoming the best. With an astounding 28 Olympic medals under his belt, Phelps is known not only for his record-breaking success but also for his massive size.
Standing at 6ft 4in, Phelps has a body that seems tailor-made for swimming. He has long legs, enormous hands, and an incredible wingspan, all of which help him push himself through the water from one victory to the next. Recently, Phelps announced his retirement from swimming for the second time, but hopefully, he will be back soon to break even more records.
Yao Ming – 7’6″
Chinese basketball star Yao Ming, at 7ft 6in, was for one season the tallest active player in the NBA. Over his long and successful career, Ming was an eight-time NBA all-star, made it to four NBA playoffs, and led the Houston Rockets to a first-round win in 2009. Unfortunately, two years after this big win, Ming was forced to retire due to recurring foot and ankle injuries, which often kept him on the sidelines.
Fans were very upset by this news, and soon after the announcement, he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, and his jersey was retired.