'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
In basketball, height matters. Over the years, however, scouts and NBA teams have started to give more focus on a player's wingspan. There is a strong belief that players with longer wingspans are able to grab rebounds, defend better, and shoot over others more easily. Top coaches, including the likes of Golden State Warriors' Steve Kerr, have spoken about it.
"It's legit. It's much more important than your height," Kerr said. "If your wingspan is more than your height, that's kind of abnormal. Most of us have the same wingspan as our height. That's kind of a rule of thumb. A lot of basketball players don't, though, they have wider wingspans. And they're able to get their hands on balls or shots or loose balls...I'm a big believer in that."
So, which active NBA players actually have the longest wing spans today?
#5 Andre Drummond - 7 feet, 6.25 inches
The Pistons center has a wingspan of 7'6.25, which measures 7.25 inches more than his height at 6'11. After spending his freshman year at UConn, Drummond declared for the NBA Draft in 2012 and was selected 9th overall. He finished fourth in 'Rookie of the Year' voting.
His incredible wingspan has helped him score easily in the paint, rebound, and block shots, averaging a double-double since his second year in the league. He has also tallied 25 or more rebounds in a game a total of six times in his career. In 2015, he had 25 rebounds against the Warriors, got 26 rebounds twice in 2014 -- against the New York Knicks and the Bulls, respectively, tallied 27 rebounds against the Portland Trail Blazers in 2015 and the Brooklyn Nets in 2018, and recorded a career-high 29 rebounds in 2014 against the Indian Pacers.
Last year, the two-time All-Star averaged 17.3 points, 15.6 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.7 steals, and 1.7 blocks.
#4 Hassan Whiteside - 7 feet, 7 inches
Hassan Whiteside, who was just recently traded to Portland, has a wingspan of 7'7, which is 7 inches more than his height.
In one of his games in Marshall University, he grabbed attention when he tallied 14 points, 17 rebounds, and 9 blocks in just over 29 minutes of action against the Ohio University Bobcats as his team won 60-53.
In 2010 he was picked 33rd overall by the Sacramento Kings, where he spent two years before playing oversees until 2014 and then returning to the NBA with Miami Heat.
Like Drummond, Whiteside is also a great rebounder, recording a career-high 25 rebounds twice. He is an even better shot blocker, recording a career-high 12 blocks against the Chicago Bulls in 2015, the same season he led the league in blocks with an average of 3.68 blocks per game.
In the following season (2016/17), he led the league with 14.1 rebounds per game and broke a few franchise records that season. He currently holds the Heat's single-season record for defensive rebounds (795), total rebounds (1,088), and double-doubles (58).
Whiteside averages 13.4 points, 11.4 rebounds, .6 assists, .6 steals, and 2.3 blocks in his career.
#3 Rudy Gobert - 7 feet, 9 inches
Rudy Gobert-Bourgarel has definitely utilized his incredible wingspan in the six years that he's been in the NBA. He is currently the back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year and has been in the All-NBA Defensive First Team three times. He earned Second All-NBA Team honors in 2017, and Third All-NBA Team honors in 2019.
In 2017, he recorded a career-high 9 blocks in a game against the Indiana Pacers, and currently has a career total of 895 blocked shots.
In the 2019-2020 season, he broke the NBA record for most dunks in a single season with 306. He also led the league in screen assists last season at 482, and matched his career-high of 25 rebounds in a game against the Pistons. Overall, he had a pretty terrific season last year, averaging 15.9 points per game, 12.9 rebounds, 2.0 assists, .8 steals, and 2.3 blocks per game.
Gobert's presence on the court has helped his team get to the playoffs for three straight years now, advancing to the second round twice. With offensive weapons Mike Conley and Bojan Bogdanović recently added to the roster, Gobert and the Utah Jazz are expected to go deep in the playoffs this season.
#2 Mo Bamba 7 feet, 10 inches
Mohamed Bamba spent his freshman year with the Texas Longhorns, where he averaged 12.9 points, 10.4 rebounds, .5 assists, .8 steals, and 3.7 blocks per game. He then declared for the 2018 NBA Draft and was drafted 6th overall by Orlando Magic.
In his NBA debut, he recorded 13 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 blocks while coming off the bench. Although the 7'1 center garnered a lot of attention before he was drafted, he has yet to have a breakout game. He is still coming into his body, with his defense constantly attacked by opponents bigger than him. He is also playing limited minutes at 16.3 MPG, with him not yet conditioned to play longer minutes in the NBA and All-Star Nikola Vucevic playing the same position as him.
Bamba will most likely still play backup to Vucevic next season, but he will definitely be a great asset to the team with his blocking and quickness. He can hopefully learn to utilize his insane wingspan not only in the paint, but also in the perimeter during switches.
#1 Tacko Fall - 8 feet, 2.25 inches
Tacko Fall recorded a whopping 8'2.25-wingspan, the second-highest recorded wingspan for an NBA player after Manute Bol's 8'6. This should come as no surprise, though, as he is 7ft-5.25 tall and has a hand length of 10.5 inches.
In his four years with the University of Central Florida, he averaged 10.1 points, 7.7 rebounds, .4 assists, .2 steals, and 2.4 blocks per game. He went undrafted before being signed by the Boston Celtics on an Exhibit 10 contract.
Tacko's popularity became prominent during the Summer League as fans loudly cheered for the center whenever he checked into the game or had the ball. It will be pretty interesting to see how the Celtics plan on developing and utilizing the Senegalese.
If it doesn't work out in the NBA though, he's got nothing to worry about as he is a pretty smart kid. He apparently learned English in just 8 months, and had a 4.0 GPA in high school, taking advanced classes in math and science. The 23-year-old also scored in the 95th percentile when he took the SATs and completed his computer science degree in UCF. He has this to say about his aspirations:
“If I could be LeBron James or Steve Jobs, I would be Steve Jobs because your athleticism will fade one day, but your knowledge will last forever,” Fall said. “You will be able to impact people for a long period of time. Basketball can be very helpful to me to accomplish bigger things...It’s going to be really helpful to me to have that kind of finances to go back to my country to my people and open businesses. I have a lot of aspirations. Sometimes I think I have too many... I just cannot, not succeed.”
