Everyone knows that NBA players are some of the most athletic, gifted people in the world. One of the gifts that many of them are given is their size. An article by Lines titled The Average NBA Player Height 2023 details the evolution of NBA players throughout history. Over time, the average height of NBA players has fluctuated, but one thing has stayed constant: collectively, they are some of the tallest humans in the world. The average height of an NBA player is a whole 10 inches taller than the average male height in the United States. This fact really puts into perspective how much these people really do stand out from the average human, and how gifted these athletes truly are.
When the league first started, the average height of the players stood at 6’4″ back in 1952. Of course, this is incredibly tall, but it is one of the shortest time periods in the league’s history. Currently, the average height in the NBA is around 6’7″, a three inch increase. This really puts into perspective not only how different these athletes are from the average human, but also how much these athletes have evolved over time.
While the average height hovers around the 6’6 range, there are still outliers that can affect the average. For example, the shortest player in NBA history stood just 5’3″, making over a foot shorter than the lowest average height in league history. On the other end, the tallest NBA player ever stood at a whopping 7’7″, a whole foot taller than the highest average in league history. This stands to show that although the average is quite tall, and hovers around the same range all throughout the history of the league, there are players from every part of the spectrum that have made it, and had successful careers despite their incredible height differences.