Average Basketball Player Height (All The Facts Inside)
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It’s no secret that most basketball players are tall – really tall. Sure, the occasional player has an ‘average’ height compared to the rest of us. But when we see pictures contrasting the sizes of tall basketball players, we get an idea of how tall they really are. So what is the average height of a basketball player?
For male basketball players, the average height is 6’6″. For female basketball players, the average height is 5’9″. Each position of a basketball team has different averages, with the Center position averaging the highest among male and female basketball players.
As we compare the statistics of average heights among players, we’ll also look at the shortest and tallest players in both NBA and WNBA history. Interestingly, many of the tallest players are from other parts of the world. In contrast, most of the shortest players listed hail from the United States, even though they are not short compared to the average Joe.
What Is The Average Height Of Basketball Players?
The average height of basketball players is around 6’6″. This average considers the tallest players that reach over 7’6″, and the shortest NBA player, Muggsy Bogues, who measured in at 5’3″. Basketball players tend to be over 6 feet tall to be able to score and block shots at the hoop, which is 10 feet off the ground.
While taller players dominate the court, many successful shorter players have fantastic skills to complement their teammates.
The Average Height Of NBA Basketball Players
The average height for NBA (National Basketball Association) basketball players is 6’6.54″. The average weight of these players is just short of 220 pounds, and the average age is 26 years. The NBA scouts for tall players from all over the world, not just from the United States. Tall and athletic players with potential and the drive to succeed might end up playing for an NBA team.
The Average Height Of WNBA Basketball Players
The average height for female basketball players who play for the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) is 5’9″, although there are female players in WNBA history who reached over 7-foot tall. Currently, the tallest WNBA player in 2022 is Brittney Griner of Phoenix Mercury, measuring in at 6’9″ inches tall.
The two shortest players of the 2022 season are 5-foot-5 tall each, and they are both guards. They are Leilani Mitchell, who played for Washington Mystics, and Crystal Dangerfield, who plays for Minnesota Lynx.
The Average Heights Of Basketball Players At Age 16
For the sake of comparison, let’s look at the average height of male basketball players at 16, considering they will probably grow taller. For example, at 16, Shaquille O’Neal was 6-foot-7 tall. By the time he was 21 years, he had measured 7-foot-1.
The average heights for 16-year-old basketball players according to basketball positions are:
- Point Guard (PG): Between 5-foot-9 and 5-foot-11.
- Shooting Guard (SG): Between 5-foot-10 and 6-foot-1.
- Small Forward (SF): Between 6-foot1 and 6-foot-4.
- Power Forward or Center: 6-foot-5 and above.
The Different Height Averages For Basketball Positions
Each of the five positions in a basketball team has an average height. Interestingly, the current average height of NBA point guards is the highest its ever been, while all the other positions average lower than in previous years (source). Below is a table comparing the average heights of NBA and WNBA basketball players.
| Position | Male Basketball Players (NBA) | Female Basketball Players (WNBA) |
|---|---|---|
| Point Guard (PG) | 6′ to 6’3″ | 5’8″ to 5’11” |
| Shooting Guard (SG) | 6’3″ to 6’5″ | 5’9″ to 6’1″ |
| Small Forward (SF) | 6’7″ | 6′ to 6’3″ |
| Power Forward | 6’7″ to 6’11” | 6’3″ to 6’5″ |
| Center | 6’9″ to 7′ | 6’4″ to 6’7″ |
The 14 Tallest Basketball Players In NBA History
The fourteen tallest basketball players in NBA history have been 7’4″ or taller. The table below shows these players in order from tallest to ‘shortest’, with information adapted from this source.
| Player’s Name | Player’s Height | Nationality | NBA Career | NBA Team(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gheorghe Muresan | 7’7″ | Romanian | 1993-2001 | Washington, New Jersey |
| 2 | Manute Bol | 7’7″ | Sudanese American | 1985-1995 | Washington, Golden State, Philadelphia, Miami |
| 3 | Shawn Bradley | 7’6″ | German American | 1993-2005 | Philadelphia, New Jersey, Dallas |
| 4 | Yao Ming | 7’6″ | Chinese | 2002-2011 | Houston |
| 5 | Slavko Vraneš | 7’5″ | Montenegrin | 2004 | Portland |
| 6 | Chuck Nevitt | 7’5″ | American | 1982-1994 | Los Angeles, Detroit, Houston, Kansas City |
| 7 | Pavel Podkolzin | 7’5″ | Russian | 2004-2006 | Dallas |
| 8 | Sim Bhullar | 7’5″ | Canadian, Indian descent | 2015 | Sacramento |
| 9 | Tacko Fall | 7’5″ | Senegalese | 2019-Present | Boston, Cleveland |
| 10 | Mark Eaton | 7’4″ | American | 1982-1993 | Utah |
| 11 | Rik Smits | 7’4″ | Dutch | 1988-2000 | Indiana |
| 12 | Ralph Sampson | 7’4″ | American | 1983-1992 | Houston, Golden State, Sacramento, Washington |
| 13 | Boban Marjanovic | 7’4″ | Serbian | 2015-Present | San Antonio, Detroit, L.A. Clippers, Philadelphia, Dallas |
| 14 | Priest Lauderdale | 7’4″ | American | 1996-98 | Atlanta |
The 12 Tallest Basketball Players In WNBA History
The tallest WNBA player, Malgorzata Dydek from Poland, measures 7’2″ tall. She is 3.5 inches taller than the next tallest WNBA basketball player. The table below shows the ten tallest female basketball players who have played for the WNBA, starting with the tallest.
| Player’s Name | Player’s Height | Nationality | WNBA Career | WNBA Team(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Malgorzata Dydek | 7’2″ | Polish | 1998 – 2008 | Utah, San Antonio, Connecticut, Los Angeles |
| 2 | Bernadett Határ | 6’10” | Hungarian | 2021 – present | Indiana |
| 3 | Han Xu | 6’10” | Chinese | 2019, present | New York |
| 4 | Zheng Haixia | 6’8.5″ | Chinese | 1997 – 1998 | Los Angeles |
| 5 | Maria Alexandrovna Stepanova | 6’8″ | Russian | 1998 – 2005 | Phoenix |
| 6 | Elizabeth Cambage | 6’8″ | Australian | 2011 – present | Tulsa, Dallas, Las Vegas, Los Angeles |
| 7 | Brittney Griner | 6’8″ | American | 2013 – 2021 | Phoenix |
| 8 | Lindsay Corine Taylor | 6’8″ | American | 2004, 2006 | Phoenix, Seattle |
| 9 | Katharen Ruth Mattera | 6’7.5″ | American | 2005 – 2008 | Connecticut, San Antonio, Detroit, Atlanta |
| 10 | Kara Wolters Drinan | 6’7″ | American | 1999 – 2003 | Houston, Indiana, Sacramento |
| 11 | Sylvia Shaqueria Fowles | 6’6″ | American | 2008 – present | Chicago, Minnesota, |
| 12 | Carolyn Moos | 6’6″ | American | 2001 – 2002 | Phoenix, Miami |
The 10 Shortest Basketball Players In NBA History
While height is a great asset in basketball, a shorter basketball player with a heart can have a successful basketball career. Below is a table of the 10 shortest basketball players in NBA history, starting from the shortest.
| Player’s Name | Player’s Height | Nationality | NBA Career | NBA Team(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tyrone Curtis ‘Muggsy’’ Bogues | 5’3″ | American | 1987 – 2001 | Washington, Charlotte, Golden State, Toronto |
| 2 | Earl Antoine Boykins | 5’5″ | American | 1998 – 2012 | New Jersey, Cleveland, Orlando, Denver, L.A. Clippers, Golden State, Milwaukee, Charlotte, Washington, Houston |
| 3 | Anthony Jerome ‘Spud’ Webb | 5’9″ | American | 1985 – 1998 | Atlanta, Sacramento, Orlando, Minnesota |
| 4 | Calvin Murphy | 5’9″ | American | 1970 – 1983 | Houston |
| 5 | Nate Robinson | 5’9″ | American | 2005 – 2016 | New York, Boston, Oklahoma City, Golden State, Chicago, Denver, L.A. Clippers, New Orleans |
| 6 | Michael Adams | 5’10” | American | 1985 – 1996 | Sacramento, Washington, Denver, Charlotte |
| 7 | Damon ‘Might Mouse’ Stoudamire | 5’10” | American | 1995 – 2008 | Toronto, Portland, Memphis, San Antonio |
| 8 | Avery ‘Little General’ Johnson | 5’10” | American | 1988 – 2004 | Seattle, Denver, San Antonio, Houston, Golden State, Dallas |
| 9 | Allen Iverson | 6’0″ | American | 1996 – 2010 | Philadelphia, Denver, Detroit, Memphis |
| 10 | Chris Paul | 6’0″ | American | 2005 – present | New Orleans, L.A. Clippers, Houston, Oklahoma City, Phoenix |
The Ten Shortest Basketball Players In WNBA History
We’ve looked at the tallest male and female players in NBA and WNBA, respectively. We’ve also looked at the shortest male players in NBA history. To complete our comparisons, below are the ten shortest female players in WNBA basketball history, starting with the shortest.
| Player’s Name | Player’s Height | Nationality | WNBA Career | WNBA Team(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shannon Bobbitt | 5’2″ | American | 2008 – 2013 | Los Angeles |
| 2 | Debbie Black | 5’2.5″ | American | 1999 – 2005 | Utah, Miami, Connecticut |
| 3 | Temeka Johnson | 5’3″ | American | 2005 – 2015 | Washington, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Tulsa, Seattle |
| 4 | Brooke McCarty-Williams | 5’4″ | American | 2019 – present | Dallas |
| 5 | Leilani Mitchell | 5’5″ | American – Australian | 2008 – 2020 | New York, Phoenix, Washington |
| 6 | Heather Butler | 5’5″ | American | 2014 – 2016 | San Antonio, Connecticut |
| 7 | Crystal Dangerfield | 5’5″ | American | 2020 – present | Minnesota, Indiana, New York |
| 8 | Dymond Simon | 5’5″ | American | 2006 – 2011 | Arizona State |
| 9 | Andrea Riley | 5’5″ | American | 2006 – 2010 | Oklahoma State |
| 10 | Shyla Heal | 5’6″ | Australian | 2021 – present | Chicago, Dallas |
Why Basketball Players Are So Tall
It’s understandable why tall athletes are chosen to play basketball. But basketball players are above average in height compared to the rest of the world’s population. How did they get so tall?
A person’s height is mainly due to genetics. Tall people usually have tall parents, although there are some exceptions. In basketball, some tall players have had tall children with league potential. Examples are Manute Bol’s son, Bol Bol, and LeBron James’ son, Bronny James Jr, who is still in school.
Other factors contributing to height during the developmental stages are getting enough sleep, stretching, and living a healthy lifestyle.
Does Being So Tall Have Health Implications?
Sometimes, excessively tall people struggle with pituitary gland issues, where they produce excessive Human Growth Hormone. Other health issues associated with tallness include varicose veins, irregular heartbeat, nerve damage in arms and legs, and skin and bone infections. These are usually attributed to suboptimal blood circulation.
What Medical Issues Do Basketball Players Suffer From?
The late Boban Marjanović, and Ming Ming, suffer from acromegaly. Acromegaly is caused by a pituitary gland tumor leading to ongoing growth hormone production, leading to gigantism.
Besides sports injuries, the most significant medical issue pro basketball players struggle with is lack of sleep. This is due to their busy schedules during the playing season.
Conclusion
The average height of male basketball players in the NBA is 6’6″, while female players in the WNBA average a height of 5’9″. The tallest basketball players in history have measured over 7 feet tall, while the shortest players were 5’3″ or 5’2″. Very tall players need to maintain good blood circulation to prevent unwanted health issues associated with being tall.
References
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