One of the great things about the NBA is how some players are really, really big, while others are, uh, not that. The gap between the shortest and the tallest players in NBA history is two feet and four inches, and we’ve seen a ton of players in that range of heights dominate over the 78 years that the NBA has been a thing.
After discussing this a bit among ourselves, we decided to do what any good content person would do and turn our conversation into a post. To do that, we looked at every height in NBA history — from Muggsy Bogues all the way up to Manute Bol — to determine the best player at each height that we’ve seen. Some of these were simple, others were extremely difficult, but with one exception, the league has had at least one player at every height between 5’3 and 7’7. Let’s dive in.
5’3: Muggsy Bogues
It’s pretty wild that Muggsy Bogues’ NBA career happened. His ability to control games at his height — he’s the shortest player in NBA history — was pretty remarkable, and it’s probably safe to say we’re never getting another guy like him again.
5’4: No one
Welp! Let’s move on.
5’5: Earl Boykins
His best years came as a reliable bench option for the Denver Nuggets, but Boykins had a respectable, 13-year career with 10 different teams. He was also an incredible scorer in college, as he could flat out get buckets for Eastern Michigan.
5’6: Spud Webb
A high-flyer, yes, but also, a pretty good point guard in his own right who could fill it up and set up his teammates. And yet, he’s known for winning the Dunk Contest in 1986 by being able to dunk at 5’6, which still does not seem possible.
5’7: Keith Jennings
Shockingly, there were not a ton of 5’7 guys in league history. Jennings spent three years with the Warriors, averaging 6.6 points and 3.7 assists per game before taking his career abroad.
5’8: Charlie Criss
An EBA standout who spent time with the Washington Generals, Criss spent eight years in the NBA, most of which came as a member of the Atlanta Hawks.
5’9: Calvin Murphy
Almost inarguably the best player under six feet tall in NBA history. Murphy is a Hall of Fame inductee — the shortest player to ever receive that honor — and could absolutely fill it up, as he averaged 17.9 points per game for his career and 25.6 a night back in 1977-78. The list of guys with more points than him in Rockets history: 1. Hakeem Olajuwon, 2. James Harden. Not bad!
5’10: Damon Stoudamire
Stoudamire burst onto the scene in Toronto, winning the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award in 1995-96, before becoming the starting point guard on some incredible Blazers teams, including the one that lost a controversial Game 7 in the Western Conference Finals to the Los Angeles Lakers in 2000.
5’11: Terrell Brandon
Brandon could flat-out play, as the two-time All-Star selection’s peak (which included stops in Cleveland, Milwaukee, and Minnesota) saw him consistently put up some pretty big numbers. For his career, he averaged 13.8 points, 6.1 assists, and 1.6 steals per game.
6’0: Chris Paul
It has to be the Point God, one of the all-time greats at getting his environment to bend to his will. Paul has consistently made teams better throughout his career, and few guys have ever understood how to make things tick as well as he has. Hopefully before his career ends, he’s able to get the ring that has long eluded him.
6’1: John Stockton
You can go with Thomas or John Stockton here, and despite Thomas having a 2-0 edge in rings, we went with the longevity and consistency of Stockton, the NBA’s all-time assists leader. He’s on a very short list of guys who have a real claim for being the best floor general in league history.
6’2: Stephen Curry
Plenty of guys have revolutionized basketball, and no one is more important in the league’s embrace of the three-point line as a high-volume weapon than Curry. The greatest shooter to ever live, Curry has captivated basketball fans since his college days with his shooting, scoring, and handles, all of which have been crucial in the Warriors winning four rings during his time in the Bay.
6’3: Jerry West
The Logo had to be on this list. West had arguably the greatest career in the NBA when you count a guy’s playing career and post-playing days, as he was an unbelievable player and executive. But this is about what he did as a player, as West averaged 27 points, 6.7 assists, and 5.8 rebounds for his entire career, and made the All-Star Game in each of his 14 seasons.
6’4: Dwyane Wade
A dynamic scorer and dogged defender who won three rings. His first was a statement that the Miami Heat were his franchise, while his second and third were pretty remarkable, as he sacrificed that so LeBron James could lead the Heat to back-to-back titles.
6’5: Oscar Robertson
As great of a stat sheet stuffer as we’ve ever seen, Robertson was incredible at doing everything that his team needed to win games — and that’s despite the fact that steals were not an official stat until his final season. He was the first guy in league history to average a triple-double, as he went for 30.8 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 11.4 assists during the 1961-62 campaign.
6’6: Michael Jordan
There are two guys who have an argument for being the greatest of all time. One is 6’6, the other is 6’8. Unsurprisingly, the 6’6 guy goes in here. Unless you’re one of those people who really loved Kobe Bryant, Jordan is as easy of an addition to this list as Muggsy Bogues, with the obvious caveat that the NBA has seen a lot more 6’6 guys.
6’7: Julius Erving
While his best years came in the ABA, come on, Dr. J is one of the coolest athletes to ever live and someone who kind of defined what it means to be a superstar. He was an All-Star every year of his 16-year career and split four MVPs between the ABA and NBA.
6’8: LeBron James
The other guy who has a case for being the greatest player of all time, another simple addition to this list. James came into the league with expectations of being a once-in-a-lifetime talent and has somehow managed to exceed them. That he is still playing at a crazy high level into his 40s is nothing short of a miracle.
6’9: Magic Johnson
Funny enough, the other guy who deserves a shout here is Larry Bird, because these two are going to be connected at the hip forever. But we’ll give the slight nod to Magic, one of the most magnetic personalities to ever come into the league who backed it up by being nothing short of brilliant on the floor. He won five rings, three MVPs, and is in the Hall of Fame.
6’10: Bill Russell
A 5-time NBA MVP and an 11-time champion, Russell is the greatest winner in the history of the league. He’s the most impactful defensive player to ever step on the court, and is the only player whose number is retired league-wide. It’s unfortunate that the NBA did not start counting blocks as an official statistic until after his career, because that would have made an already remarkable career even more jaw-dropping.
6’11: Tim Duncan
The poster child of consistency. The Spurs built their reputation of being the most well-run franchise in the NBA around having Duncan, who always answered the bell when San Antonio needed him to over his 19 years with the franchise. You could set your watch to him giving San Antonio 20 and 10 with a few blocks every night, while few (if any) players in league history did a better job leading by example.
7’0: Hakeem Olajuwon
One of the greatest players ever at doing a little bit of everything to help his team win. His footwork was so good that NBA players made it a point to work with him and learn from him after he retired. The Dream is an MVP, a two-time NBA Finals MVP, a two-time champion, and the guy Michael Jordan picked as the center for his all-time best team.
7’1: Wilt Chamberlain
If you have not gone onto Wilt’s basketball-reference page in a while, I’d like it if you took a minute or two to do that. I will even link to it for you, right here.
[twiddles thumbs]
Anyway, yeah, he’s on this list for good reason. It comes at the expense of guys like Shaquille O’Neal and David Robinson, but no one is ever putting up numbers like Wilt again.
7’2: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
As easy of a choice as there is on this list. Abdul-Jabbar had as remarkable of a life in basketball as you’ll see, as he’s one of the greatest players in high school, college, and NBA history. He was one of the first names we jotted down on this list, and it’ll take a miracle for anyone to ever be a better 7’2 basketball player than him.
7’3: Zydrunas Ilgauskas
A legitimately fun one, because Victor Wembanyama is going to take this crown, while Arvydas Sabonis would’ve had it if he was able to come to the NBA much earlier in his career. As such, we’ll go with the man affectionately known as Big Z, who overcame foot problems early in his career to become a reliable and effective center for a long time in Cleveland.
7’4: Ralph Sampson
Few players entered the NBA with as much hype as Sampson. While injuries took their toll on him in his Hall of Fame career, he entered the league and immediately made it to four All-Star games, along with an All-NBA Second Team nod in 1984-85.
7’5: Chuck Nevitt
While he didn’t exactly fill it up — he appeared in 155 games over nine years — Nevitt does have the distinction of being the tallest champion in NBA history, as he won a ring with the 1984-85 Lakers.
7’6: Yao Ming
It had to be Yao, a cultural phenomenon and a truly dominant player who also felt like he came into the league a little too soon — he had a gorgeous jumper, and while he only went 2-for-10 from three in his career, we think he could’ve been a threat from deep if he entered the NBA a decade later. Still, the dude could play when health did not get in the way, as he averaged 19 points and 9.2 rebounds over an 8-year career.
7’7: Manute Bol
This comes down to Bol or Gheorghe Muresan, but ultimately, we went with Bol due to his longevity — he spent a decade in the NBA and is one of the most feared shot blockers in league history. His five blocks per game in 1985-86 is the second-highest single-season mark in league history.