Here’s something you wouldn’t have expected: Of the 10 tallest men who have ever played in the NBA, none are African American.
One, Manute Bol, is African — at 7-6.5 he is the second tallest — but none are African American. Actually only three — Chuck Nevitt, Shawn Bradley and Mark Eton — are native-born Americans. Yao Ming is Chinese. The rest are European including Gheorghe Muresan of Romania who at 7-7 is the tallest to have played in the NBA.
The tallest basketball player is Sun Mingming who is 7-9. He, however, has never played in the NBA. He is Chinese. I guess you wouldn’t have expected that either.