Of NBA Dreams and Scaling New Heights
February 2, 2007
Sun Mingming, a 2.36m Chinese center, became the tallest player in professional basketball history when he signed with the minor-league Maryland Nighthawks on Wednesday.
The 22-year-old goliath will wear jersey number 79, for his 7-foot-9-inches height in US terms, and help the American Basketball Association club to pursue his dream of playing in the elite National Basketball Association (NBA).
Sun, who wears size 19 shoes and weighs about 160kg, will likely become a drawing card for the 50-team league, which has clubs in smaller venues serving as a development area for players dreaming of an NBA career.
"Sun's skills are tremendous," Nighthawks co-owner and league president Tom Doyle said. "There hasn't been a player this big at this young of an age that has the skills that he has at this point. He sees the floor. His skills are tremendous."
Doyle admitted that if an NBA club showed interest, his club would not halt the transfer of the Harbin native.
"Obviously we'd like to keep him here the entire season, but if someone upstairs in the NBA wants a look at him, we're not standing in the way," he said.
Will Rankin, the Nighthawks' coach, praised Sun for his basketball knowledge. Sun has played for China's world junior squad but was bypassed in the 2005 NBA Draft, likely over concerns about a lack of speed and fitness.
"I've seen great players. I've coached several big men. His skills and adaptation are second to none," Rankin said. "He picks up stuff very rapidly. His IQ to the game is abnormally high."
Teammate Randy Gill has been working with Sun since he arrived area a week ago, dubbing the intimidating inside man "Big Homie".
"He has great potential to be very great in the game of basketball. I think he can definitely play at the NBA level," Gill said. "He improves every day. Every time I show him something he gets right to it. He works very hard.
"He's a great passer and has the ability to see the floor. I think he's just going to keep growing and continue to get better."
Sun, who has undergone surgery to remove a tumor from his pituitary gland, will debut for the Nighthawks on Saturday against the Strong Island Sound.
[img width=375 height=500]http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i94/vantoytoy/sunmingming.jpg[/img]
7-feet-9 and 360-pound Sun Mingming
Sun Mingming, the 2.36m Chinese giant working his way up into the National Basketball Association, will attempt to wow NBA scouts over the next few months as he plays for a new minor-league team.
The Grand Rapids Flight announced Tuesday the signing of the 23-year-old center, the tallest player in pro basketball history, ahead of the upcoming International Basketball League season.
Last weekend saw Sun end his run with the Maryland Nighthawks in the American Basketball Association. The team finished 16-17 and missed the league playoffs with Sun averaging 5.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.9 blocks a game.
The season will begin on March 22 for the Grand Rapids Flight with Sun set to report to his new team this week. The 24-team development league regular season runs from March to June.
Sun, set to star alongside Jackie Chan in Rush Hour III later this year, underwent surgery to remove a pituitary tumor last year and is in intensive training to build up his strength, stamina, speed and skills in hopes of an NBA career.
"We are extremely excited to have Sun playing for us this season," Flight coach David Fox said. "He will be an exciting player to watch as his quest to become an NBA-caliber center continues."
Sun's final game in Rockville saw him team up with 2.31m center Gheorghe Muresan, a former NBA standout with Washington, and two other 7-footers to form the first starting lineup in pro basketball history containing four 7-foot goliaths. No word has come on any potential inferiority complex felt by the team's fifth player.
World's Tallest Working on NBA Dream
October 11, 2006
At nearly 236cm tall with size 19 feet, Chinese basketball player Sun Mingming dreams of joining the National Basketball Association.
But what has made him so tall and given him dreams of following his countryman Yao Ming into the US professional ranks was also a threat to his life.
A tumor at the base of his skull was pressing on his pituitary gland and making him grow, and had to be surgically removed last year. Without the surgery, he faced the possibility of heart failure and early death. A tiny piece of tumor remains.
"Yao Ming is the pride of all Chinese people," Sun said from Greensboro, North Carolina, where he is training to improve his speed and agility.
"Could I be like him one day? This is not something that can happen just because I wish it to happen. I need to work hard and even if I work really hard, I don't know if it will ever happen."
Sun arrived in the United States from China in February 2005. Sports agent Charles Bonsignore said he took a risk by taking on the then lead-footed player and agreed to raise funds for medical bills that already exceed US$100,000.
"I said, 'Let's see what we can do and make this guy into an NBA player,'" Bonsignore said from his office in Ventura, California.
Sun was eligible for the 2005 National Basketball Association draft, but wasn't chosen because of his lack of stamina. He landed awkwardly and felt winded often.
Sun's huge feet were covered with corns and welts, his toes were gnarled and an X-Ray showed the bones in his toes were deformed because he didn't have shoes that fit him properly while he was growing up.
Then doctors made a more shocking discovery: a tumor was crushing Sun's pituitary gland and it was secreting excess growth hormone that caused him to grow and grow.
Blessing and curse
Dr Hrayr Shahinian, director of Los Angeles-based Skull Base Institute, who performed the brain surgery on Sun in September 2005, said the condition was a blessing and a curse for Sun, who barely needed to jump in order to dunk a ball. "It is a curse because this disease, if it is left alone, if untreated, can be fatal and he may die of heart failure right on the basketball court," he said.
Robert Pershing Wadlow, who suffered from gigantism and died in 1940 from a foot infection at the age of 22, is recognized by the Guinness World Records as the tallest man in history at 8 feet 11 inches (272 cm). The tallest living man is Xi Shun at 7 feet 8.95 inches.
By all accounts, Sun's recovery from surgery has been successful. But a tiny piece of tumor remains lodged in his skull close to the carotid artery, the main blood vessel from the heart to the brain, and the optic nerve.
Treatment could include radiosurgery or special drugs, both of which are costly.
If he succeeds in playing in the NBA, Sun would be the tallest player in its history, overtaking Manute Bol and Gheorghe Muresan, both 7 feet 7 inches (231 cm). Yao Ming and Shawn Bradley, both 7 feet 6 inches (229 cm), are the tallest players currently in the league.
"The first thing you notice about Sun Mingming is that he's the largest human being you'll ever see on earth," said Bill Paolantonio, executive producer of a (the) documentary about Sun. "It is an amazing feeling when he walks into the room. He stops the room. He's that large."
The documentary, "Anatomy of a Giant," airs in the United States on the Discovery Health channel on October 15. It follows Sun's journey from Harbin, China, to his recovery in the United States after the three-hour brain surgery.
Sun's height is one thing that impressed Dale Osbourne, general manger and coach of Dodge City Legend in Kansas and prompted him to sign Sun on to the minor league team for a short contract in March. The 360-pound player averaged only about 5 minutes per game, said Osbourne. That compares to about 20 minutes for an average player.
"It's going to take time," said Osbourne. "He's got to continue to work hard on his foot movement, continue to work hard on his stamina and he's got to continue to hit the weight room and get stronger upper body and lower body strength."
Sun is now training about five hours a day, yet still finding time to soak in a little Americana, from learning English to eating new food; shopping to playing pool and even getting a taste of night life.
"The dream that I had when I came to the United States has not changed," Sun said. "It will be great if I can play in NBA one day. I will work as hard as I can, do my very best to achieve that goal. But if it still can't happen in the end, at least I will have no regret."
VIDEOS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOKnw6p1qC0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nx6EP-kxOg4
Sun Mingming (7-feet-9 and 360-pound)
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