# Nearly 7-foot-9 player from China training for NBA in Greensboro



## kisstherim

http://www.news-record.com/sports/local/bkbtraining_041305.htm 



> The hoop hangs within arm's reach of Sun Ming Ming.
> 
> The 7-foot-8 3/4 center positions himself under the basket and awaits a pass from trainer Keith Gatlin.





> Sun, who is from Harbin, China, is training in Greensboro for a shot at the NBA. His agent, Charles Bonsignore, paired the prospect up with former client and former professional basketball player Keith Gatlin. Gatlin, a managing partner with 334 Sports, a local firm that trains athletes, has worked with Sun for about five weeks.
> 
> "With his size, that intrigues everybody," Gatlin said. "He can really shoot the ball to be that size. The challenge for him now is to get mobile, to get up and down the court."
> 
> Sun also can handle the ball and has a sweet outside shot that swishes with the quick flick of his wrist. When it comes to dunking, he doesn't need to leave the ground.
> 
> Basketball, Gatlin will tell you, is not Sun's problem.
> 
> Sun's weakness is his flexibility and his lack of weight training. While playing for the Junior Olympic team and then Da Qing, his province's club squad, Sun never lifted weights and is just now building upper-body strength





> Wilson said Sun is young in terms of his training years.
> 
> "I treat him like he is a high school senior lifting weights," Wilson said. "You build from that. ... There's a progression that you need to go. You can't just go everyday hard, hard, hard. It just doesn't work like that."





> "You push a person, but you don't want to push a person where they get injured, and that happens with a lot athletes with a lot of willpower," Wilson said. "It's better to undertrain than overtrain."
> 
> The risk of injury is too great, especially with NBA teams already asking about Sun. The possibility of making the NBA thrills Sun, who is happily working toward his future.
> 
> Photo
> Sun's grasp on a basketball resembles most people holding a softball. (Joseph Rodriguez/©News & Record)
> 
> "I have more opportunities here," Sun said through interpreter Hsiao-Yin Chu. "I have the opportunity to play with the best players in the world and get into good basketball."





> Bonsignore saw the raw potential while watching Sun play for the Junior Olympic team in China and again when he played for Da Qing.
> 
> "More than anything I saw his size," Bonsignore said. "I just thought it was a complete waste of a kid's life: That he's so big, and they don't have the resources to train him."
> 
> That's why Bonsignore asked Gatlin to train Sun. Gatlin spent eight years playing professional ball in Europe, so he understands what it's like to adjust to a new culture.
> 
> "Keith believes in basically the old style of basketball fundamentals," Bonsignore said. "With his personality and demeanor, I knew he'd make Sun comfortable."





> "He's been great," Rocky Manning said. "He totally changed from when he first came here. He didn't seem that happy, but now he smiles and laughs and knows a couple hundred words in English. He's a very smart guy."
> 
> Sun will stay in Greensboro until May when he'll return to China for 45 days to play in the national games with his club team. He is expected to return in June for the NBA Draft, but Bonsignore isn't interested in hyping Sun's situation because it could create unfair comparisons to recent China product Yao Ming.
> 
> If Sun is drafted in June, Bonsignore hopes he'll be picked by a team willing to develop Sun's skills.
> 
> If he's not drafted, he will become a free agent, and Bonsignore said they will consider taking next year to continue building his skills.
> 
> "If a team doesn't show that they are willing to be patient," Bonsignore said, "we'll just wait and show him when he's ready."


7-foot-9？whoa








Sun's grasp on a basketball resembles most people holding a softball.


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## RickyBlaze

Damn.... China sure produces some Tall *** people considering they're on average a pretty short nation.


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## Greg Ostertag!

RickyBlaze said:


> Damn.... China sure produces some Tall *** people considering they're on average a pretty short nation.


 Then again, they have the largest sample space of people in the world, for a nation.


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## ATLien

Daaaaaaaamn @ those hands.

That is insane.

I bet you he can't even ball. Some agent just discovered him, and is trying to milk him for all he's worth, then exploit the hell out of him.

Sad, really.


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## Kunlun

God damn, I've heard of him before, but he was only like 7'3 at the time. What the **** are they feeding this guy. He would be the tallest player in NBA history if he makes the NBA.


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## vadimivich

That's a big boy. Really big.


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## Chef

I am sure Knicks are already considering taking him with their lottery pick :biggrin:


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## kisstherim

TheATLien said:


> I bet you he can't even ball.


nah,he was playing for the Junior Olympic team of China and his province club team. i just didn't know he went for USA for training.
but it's true he is not a very good baller currently.he is just an above average player. he is not as agile as Yao Ming and has a even skinner upper-body then Yao. Like that articles said "While playing for the Junior Olympic team and then Da Qing, his province's club squad, Sun never lifted weights and is just now building upper-body strength."

he started basketball training very late thus lacks some basic basketball skills.and besides he didn't take adequate essential nutriments for a growing child when he was young cuz his family didn't have enough money to feed a child of his size (hes like 7'3 in 13 years old). Like that article said---"More than anything I saw his size," Bonsignore said. "I just thought it was a complete waste of a kid's life: That he's so big, and they don't have the resources to train him."---so probably he doesn't have much potential.but who knows? maybe his new american coach could really "exploit the hell out of him" considering he is a quick learner and has a very high IQ（an awesome player at poker)as i heard.anyway,i guess he is at least able to be a better player then Ha of Blazers.

he was born in 1986 according to chinese basketball association,but there is rumor he was actually born in 1981. :angel:


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## jdg

Greg Ostertag! said:


> Then again, they have the largest sample space of people in the world, for a nation.


I don't see how this affects his observation... I mean, you could be saying that the large sample size allows the average to "hide" an outliers like Yao Ming and this guy, but any country with a couple million people will not be affected in the least by a "freak" like this.

What I have heard, and am hoping any Chinese members of the board can confirm, is that the Northern Chinese (and those with Mongolian heritage such as Mengke Bateer) are actually very tall.


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## JDH12

This guy must be completely unathletic and unskilled if he is just getting noticed after being in China's bball program for that long.


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## kisstherim

jdg said:


> What I have heard, and am hoping any Chinese members of the board can confirm, is that the Northern Chinese (and those with Mongolian heritage such as Mengke Bateer) are actually very tall.


Northern Chinese r taller than southern ones,generally speaking. They r about 5'9-5'10 on average.


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## osman

how old is he?


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## HKF

This guy looks like one of the goons from Popeye. He will be no NBA player. 7'9? C'mon now. That's just a freak show. Ask him to join the circus and put little kids up high. This guy, :rofl:


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## Tooeasy

HKF said:


> This guy looks like one of the goons from Popeye. He will be no NBA player. 7'9? C'mon now. That's just a freak show. Ask him to join the circus and put little kids up high. This guy, :rofl:


:laugh:


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## Quasi-Quasar

N. Chinese like Xinjang and some Mongolians aren't short compared to Americans...If Kunlun is thinking of the same guy and he's grown 6'' I'd say he has a pituitary disorder (gigantism). WOW is he big though, and he doesn't look sickly like Michael Ri (7-9 N Korean guy who tried to get in the NBA like 10 years ago).


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## nutmeged3

in the article it says he can dunk by just puttin his arms up

he might be bad but hes real damn tall cant b any worse tehn shawn bradley is now


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## kisstherim

osman said:


> how old is he?


18(listed),23(rumored)


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## kisstherim

TheGoods said:


> If Kunlun is thinking of the same guy and he's grown 6'' I'd say he has a pituitary disorder (gigantism).


yeah,he definitely has a pituitary disorder (gigantism)so i guess he need a surgery as soon as possible considering seemingly he is still growing,gee.
and stamina is his biggest problem right now.

some pics of him:


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## mysterio

Just by looking at those pictures, I know he has no chance at all. He looks so hang-dog in every picture. I feel sorry for the dude.


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## sheefo13

i dont know. He is tall but chances are he has no basketbal skills what so ever. How tall is the tallest guy in the world lol? Isnt he like 8 feet tall? I aint sure but the only reason he would get into the league is because he would be an atraction by being 7 foot 9....


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## knickstorm

cant be worse than dasagana diop


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## SmithRocSSU

I'd take him with my #1 pick today! :mrt:


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## Bartholomew Hunt

How is Slavka Vranes doing right now?


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## jdg

Every year there is some giant that tries to come over and learn the game in the couple months before the draft to hopefully get picked up. Vranes two years ago, that guy from Iran last year. None of them ever make it anywhere. I'm gonna assume this guy will be the same.


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## dk1115

kisstherim said:


> Northern Chinese r taller than southern ones,generally speaking. They r about 5'9-5'10 on average.


confirmed, I don't really know for sure though about the actual height, but I have heard that they are pretty tall.


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## dk1115

sheefo13 said:


> i dont know. He is tall but chances are he has no basketbal skills what so ever. How tall is the tallest guy in the world lol? Isnt he like 8 feet tall? I aint sure but the only reason he would get into the league is because he would be an atraction by being 7 foot 9....


The tallest man ever was 8'11'', and the tallest living one (from a Guiness World Record book in 1995 or so) said the tallest living man was 8'1''


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## Quasi-Quasar

There is also a Sudanese kid who is supposedly 8-3...the was an article about him in this forum like a year ago.


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## HeinzGuderian

nutmeged3 said:


> in the article it says he can dunk by just puttin his arms up
> 
> he might be bad but hes real damn tall cant b any worse tehn shawn bradley is now


bradley was at least good in college though, he had some skills at one point


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## MightyReds2020

> _from the source_
> ...
> 
> Sun will stay in Greensboro until May when he'll return to China for 45 days to play in the national games with his club team. He is expected to return in June for the NBA Draft, but Bonsignore isn't interested in hyping Sun's situation because it could create unfair comparisons to recent China product Yao Ming.
> 
> If Sun is drafted in June, Bonsignore hopes he'll be picked by a team willing to develop Sun's skills.
> 
> If he's not drafted, he will become a free agent, and Bonsignore said they will consider taking next year to continue building his skills.
> 
> "If a team doesn't show that they are willing to be patient," Bonsignore said, "we'll just wait and show him when he's ready."


This last paragraphs puzzled me. Entering the draft this summer? What the hell is going on here? Is that even allowed by Chinese government who likes to 'protect their own property'?

Anyway, have to say that Sun 'Ming Ming' sounds like a very girlish name in chinese. It's especially awkward to call it on a 7-9 giant. :biggrin:


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## white360

I would take hom over Bradley and Muresan any day


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## Ballscientist

New information from my classmate:

Sun has 360 degree dunking skills;

He is a lot of stronger than Pavel/Bradley at this moment.

He is a good shooter.

IMO, he could be in top 10 draft this year.


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## Quasi-Quasar

Ballscientist said:


> New information from my classmate:
> 
> Sun has 360 degree dunking skills;
> 
> He is a lot of stronger than Pavel/Bradley at this moment.
> 
> He is a good shooter.
> 
> IMO, he could be in top 10 draft this year.


 :laugh: :laugh: ...360 abiliy from a guy with no lift, more strength than Pavel (who is very strong)...he can be superstar just like Houston or Toine :laugh:.


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## kisstherim

Ballscientist said:


> New information from my classmate:
> 
> Sun has 360 degree dunking skills;
> 
> He is a lot of stronger than Pavel/Bradley at this moment.
> 
> He is a good shooter.
> 
> IMO, he could be in top 10 draft this year.


u must have a chinese classmate(friend)cuz i saw several posts of u here talking about "exclusive" information in chinese media(from ur friend).yeah,i heard about that "360 degree dunk"as well which is blatant BS.C'Mon, this guy can barely jump,360' dunk?unless u call a turnaround move on the ground +a dunk(he can dunk without jump) "360' dunk".


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## Brian34Cook

Holy Crap.. Wow


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## zagsfan20

Ballscientist said:


> New information from my classmate:
> 
> Sun has 360 degree dunking skills;
> 
> He is a lot of stronger than Pavel/Bradley at this moment.
> 
> He is a good shooter.
> 
> IMO, he could be in top 10 draft this year.


Don't listen to your friend....

This guy is garbage and will never play a game in the NBA....


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## bullet

Wow , what a monster.

How long does it take him to run one length , and does he horn when he moves backwards...


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## white360

He'll be the fastet ever on one length.
He just needs to take 2 steps to cross.
LOL :biggrin:


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## Dre

He's certainly tall, but that's it. Maybe, if he shows something in a workout, a team throws a 2nd rounder at him, but more more likely, jdg is right:



> Every year there is some giant that tries to come over and learn the game in the couple months before the draft to hopefully get picked up. Vranes two years ago, that guy from Iran last year. None of them ever make it anywhere. I'm gonna assume this guy will be the same.


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## MVPlaya

HKF said:


> This guy looks like one of the goons from Popeye. He will be no NBA player. 7'9? C'mon now. That's just a freak show. Ask him to join the circus and put little kids up high. This guy, :rofl:


WTF? Where did this come from?


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## MVPlaya

And where are all ya'll gettin this info of him bein trash at?


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## Bron_Melo_ROY

Ballscientist said:


> New information from my classmate:
> 
> Sun has 360 degree dunking skills;
> 
> He is a lot of stronger than Pavel/Bradley at this moment.
> 
> He is a good shooter.
> 
> IMO, he could be in top 10 draft this year.


That is the dumbest **** I have ever heard. 7'9" and can pull off a 360...yeah right.


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## belgian

Bron_Melo_ROY said:


> That is the dumbest **** I have ever heard. 7'9" and can pull off a 360...yeah right.


Actually its pretty easy if your 7-9 and you can dunk without jump. You just have to jump and turn, dont need a high vert to do that. 

I found out 1 or 2 years ago he was 7-5, this means he's still growing, maybe he could become the first 8-footer in the NBA, that would be nasty. 
At least he will be a good as Gheorge Muresan, who was also terrible slow but he had a season where he put up 18/10 numbers (better than yao ming!). Just hope his career can last some years.


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## italianBBlover

Lol, think about a shot in basketball of Bernando Gilli called "il popo" ("the kid"), a guy born in my town back in 1726.

He was 8'6'' !!!!!!

Here a pic of the time









And what about the 8'11'' Robert Wadlow (1918-1940)









Omg


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## sheefo13

WOW how did he get a suit that size lol. did they have a big and tall x5 store back then>> haha


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## Bron_Melo_ROY

Wasn't their talk of an Indian kid about 17 years old named Vikash Uppal? He was like 8'3" and +400 lbs.


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## kamego

this is a hella of a thread...7'9" but is he soft? A bigger slower softer Yao wont help any team


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## HKF

Good lord, these men are cursed. Being that tall looks to be more like a burden then a blessing. I'm glad I'm 6'3. What woman is going to go out with a 8'11 dude? It would suck if he had a 4" penis too. :rofl:


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## mysterio

http://www.artukraine.com/histgallery/tall7photo.htm

World's tallest living man. He was of slightly less than normal stature at age 14.


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## kentuckyfan13

So is this guy gonna be in this years draft or not?


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## Quasi-Quasar

Kentuckyfan13: He's going to be undrafted at best ... He's not even as good as that Jaber Rouzabahani guy, who at least could block shots, and he wasn't drafted....Just wait until next year when the buzz starts to build around *in booming announcer's voice* Sultan Kosen... As HKF said, this guys a freak show. He's intriguing because he's huge, but even Gheorghe Muresan could play when he was drafted. And for all the people who think Bradley is a poor player, it's difficult to move at that size as well as he does... This guy would be lucky to be as good as Manute Bol, who was probably better than this guy will ever be. Ha Seung Jin barely got in last year, and he's a heck of a lot better... Plus after looking into him I'm fairly certain he is 23 years old (born in 1983) so once the NBA gets his documents, they won't let him in anyway.


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## kentuckyfan13

thank you


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## rebelsun

HKF said:


> Good lord, these men are cursed. Being that tall looks to be more like a burden then a blessing. I'm glad I'm 6'3. What woman is going to go out with a 8'11 dude? It would suck if he had a 4" penis too. :rofl:


He could be a Lexington Steele clone and still look small.


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## AnthonyB

Sun is progressing nicely. You have not heard a lot about him because this is in a player one hypes into unrealistic expectations. His life in China was awful. No coaching, no training, no teaching. He has a chance to be taught the proper way in the States. If he makes it as a role player, that's great. If he does not make it at all, he will have had an opportunity to better his life. I don't see much exploitation there.

No doubt he needs work. No doubt you will see him in an NBA uniform.


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## AnthonyB

Sun Ming Ming Photo


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## AnthonyB

Photo taken March 8, 2005


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## Ballscientist

I think I need to change my mind.

1. If he is that good, why didn't he join the Chinese National Team?

2. Can he run the floor?

2nd round is about right.

addl info:

his Free throw over 80%.


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## knickstorm

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/3549284

fox sports headline says scouts are drooling over him, which scouts are they talking about? of course article doesnt say, typical of fox.

we'll find out when he goes to workouts. He should get himself in that pre-draft camp too.


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## tattoo

He does not even make it in CBA yet. I am not saying that he wont make it in the future, but he is not ready for NBA. I heard of him about 3 years ago when Yao Ming was drafted. Basically, they just discovered him and tried to turn this guy into a basketball player. I admitted not hearing his name again after that.


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## rynobot

I read somewhere that the only reason he did not play in the CBA was because he was too slow.


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## kamego

At his size, he will probally never develop the speed needed to be a true player in the NBA.


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## mysterio

I wonder when will there be a PG-position height player from China? It's always giants.


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## tattoo

mysterio said:


> I wonder when will there be a PG-position height player from China? It's always giants.


Chen Jianghua is the cloeset PG in China who has a future in NBA. 


http://nbadraft.net/profiles/chenjianghua.asp
http://nbadraft.net/shanghai001.asp


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## Yao Mania

tattoo said:


> Chen Jianghua is the cloeset PG in China who has a future in NBA.
> 
> 
> http://nbadraft.net/profiles/chenjianghua.asp
> http://nbadraft.net/shanghai001.asp


Wow they have his profile up already? the kid's only 17, and he probably won't be eligible until he's 21.

Sun Ming Ming is just a sideshow, the next NBA talent from China goes by the name of Yi Jianlian :biggrin:


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## tempe85

italianBBlover said:


> And what about the 8'11'' Robert Wadlow (1918-1940)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Omg


Wadlow could have dominated in the NBA. All you would have to do is post him up.. pass him the ball and watch him score. 

Too bad you'd have to take him out on every defensive posession because I doubt he could barely run at all. :biggrin: (It was said he weighed 490 POUNDS!!)


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## white360

Wadlow actually did play basketball a little at the local ymca:



















166 More Pics at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Robert_Wadlow/


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## Perfection

Too bad he died when he was like 22....


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## italianBBlover

I saw some images of the training of the 7-9 chinese guy yesterday on a italian TV ... well, not a bad body and he seems quite athletic ... we'll see ...


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## zhaoti

WOW !!


Whats even more amazing was that he was still growing by the time
of his death, noticed he grew almost 4 inches from the year before
he died, i always wonder what his fully grown size will be like.
Had he live for a few more months he definately would exceed
9 feet in height, and if he could live for another 3 or 4 years
i wonder be surprise he reached a height of 10 feet or more. It was just sad
we never can see how tall robert could really become.

It seems like the only way to get to that kind of height was to
have some sort of pituitary disorder and just let the person grow, it was said by medical science
the tallest possible height for a human under normal condition
is somewhere around 7-10.

Robert died because of an infection to ankle, not directly relate to pituatary
gland disorder, if he was born in today i dont think he can allow to grow
that tall, his parents would've put him under surgery and prevent his
out of control growth.

Can you imagine a 10 foot tall fully grown giant in today's nba ?
wouldnt that be amazing !




tempe85 said:


> Wadlow could have dominated in the NBA. All you would have to do is post him up.. pass him the ball and watch him score.
> 
> Too bad you'd have to take him out on every defensive posession because I doubt he could barely run at all. :biggrin: (It was said he weighed 490 POUNDS!!)


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## Thorgal

Another giant kid.

*Ring Kuot*, 15 years old, *8'3* (!)

From the same trib (Dinka in Sudan) as Manute Bol and current Bulls' SF, Luol Deng.

http://www.childrensworld.org/wcpswe/2003/nominerade/sudan/engelska/ring1.asp


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## JNice

Thorgal said:


> Another giant kid.
> 
> *Ring Kuot*, 15 years old, *8'3* (!)
> 
> From the same trib (Dinka in Sudan) as Manute Bol and current Bulls' SF, Luol Deng.
> 
> http://www.childrensworld.org/wcpswe/2003/nominerade/sudan/engelska/ring1.asp


If that is real, the kid is definitely not 15 yrs old any more. I remember seeing that link a long, long time ago. At least a year probably.


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## DK

JNice said:


> If that is real, the kid is definitely not 15 yrs old any more. I remember seeing that link a long, long time ago. At least a year probably.


 That article was done in the year 2003. He should be 17 now (If he's still alive, knock on wood).


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## white360

www.famousheights.com


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## jcs83md

I think these mock draft pages have to start acknowledging that someone is going to take a chance on this kid in the 2nd round.


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## Quasi-Quasar

jcs83md said:


> I think these mock draft pages have to start acknowledging that someone is going to take a chance on this kid in the 2nd round.


No, they really don't considering he likely isn't eligible for the draft, he is a FA. His age is extremely suspect considering his documents have listed about 4 different birth years from what I've heard. *cough* Jianlian Yi *cough*


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