The Boston Celtics have had tall players before. Every NBA team has boasted a 7-footer at one time or another. But there’s a whole new height game in town — and his name is Tacko Fall. The last really big fella that the Celtics had was a late-career Shaquille O’Neal, widely known as the biggest baddest big man in the NBA during his era. NBA great Kevin Durant, who won a title in Boston in 2008, is listed at a mere 6’11”.
At 7’7″ the Celtics rookie and Senegalese sky-toucher Tacko Fall is half a foot — at least — taller than Shaq. Yes, Fall does leave his feet to dunk — or does he? On second and third looks below, it appears Fall doesn’t do more than go up on his toes. It’s certainly true that he’s still finishing his dunk, hand on the rim, as his feet touch the ground.
Fall’s reach is so spectacularly long that he immediately transforms any game he’s in — on both the defensive and offensive sides of the ball. In an NBA full of upheaval and personnel transitions, maybe no player’s future will be more fun to watch and marvel at than Tacko Fall’s. Like Shaq, Fall also reportedly tops 300 pounds.
