Gheorghe Muresan
Gheorghe Dumitru Muresan , is a
Romanian former professional
basketball player. At 7'7" , he is arguably the
tallest man to ever play in the
NBA, supposedly standing a few millimeters taller than
Sudanese player Manute Bol. Like Bol, both his parents are of average size .
Muresan was born in the district of Cluj in a poor family, and played college basketball at Cluj University in Romania. He played professionally in the
French league with lan Barnais Pau-Orthez during the 1992-1993 season and was an instant hit with fans.
Encyclopedia
Gheorghe Dumitru Muresan , is a
Romanian former professional
basketball player. At 7'7" , he is arguably the
tallest man to ever play in the
NBA, supposedly standing a few millimeters taller than
Sudanese player Manute Bol. Like Bol, both his parents are of average size .
Muresan was born in the district of Cluj in a poor family, and played college basketball at Cluj University in Romania. He played professionally in the
French league with Élan Béarnais Pau-Orthez during the 1992-1993 season and was an instant hit with fans. The NBA took interest in him and he was drafted by the
Washington Bullets in the 1993 NBA Draft. He played in the NBA from 1993 to 2000, showing signs of a promising career that was derailed by injuries. He was named the NBA's Most Improved Player for the 1995-96 season after averaging 14.5 points, 9.6 rebounds, 2.26 blocks per game whilst making a career-high 58.4 percent of his field goals. Overall, he holds career averages of 9.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, 0.5 assists, 1.48 blocks per game and a .573 field goal percentage. He joined the
New Jersey Nets for the final 31 games of his career. After retiring from the NBA, Muresan returned to the
French league for three more years before returning to settle in
New Jersey with his family.
Outside of basketball, Muresan has dabbled in acting, receiving good reviews playing the title character in 1998 film
My Giant with his co-star, comedian
Billy Crystal. He also played a
ventriloquist in
Eminem's breakout video "My Name Is", appeared in commercials for
Snickers bars and ESPN, and has always taken pride in his Romanian identity.
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