At 7-feet-9, it’s hard to overlook Chinese center Sun Mingming. The comparisons with Yao Ming are inevitable.
Able to dunk while barely leaving the ground, Sun just completed the most successful season of his career with the Hamamatsu Phoenix in Japan’s pro league.
“I just want to keep playing basketball,” said Sun, 25. “Whether it’s here in Japan or in the United States, I hope to keep playing for at least 10 more years.”
He has played in the USBL and other U.S. minor leagues.
Sun’s size is eye-catching. But a corresponding lack of speed is considered by some experts as a barrier to an NBA career.
Sun would be the tallest player in NBA history, overtaking Manute Bol and Gheorghe Muresan, who both stood 7-7. Yao, at 7-6, is the tallest active NBA player.
“It’s surreal,” says 6-foot-8 Lynn Washington, a two-time MVP in Japan. “You can’t really do much because he’s so big. He just holds the ball up in the air and it looks like a tennis ball.”
