How to get taller for basketball

Why Are NBA Basketball Players So Tall? We Reveal Why.

Why are basketball players so tall? How do NBA basketball players reach such large heights such as 7 feet tall and more? It’s a question that many observers have been wondering for quite some time.

Height obviously matters when it comes to playing basketball. Tall people are usually more efficient, they can reach the basket easily, allowing for more points per game, as well as rebounds and blocked shots.

Scouts usually search for tall young talents that have potential to become great basketball players. It is as a rule when it comes to this matter. Many would love to play basketball professionally, but there are just a few real talents. And proper height can certainly help. You can find different details and information on many exercises, supplements, and nutrition that can help you with this.

If you watch NBA regularly, you certainly notice that many players are above 6″6. Some of them are naturally tall. Their parents were tall, and the genetics did its job. But some others are performing different exercise or taking various supplements to grow more.

Basketball Exercises to Grow Taller

Stretching exercises are usually an efficient way to increase your height. However, those who perform them have to be patient and persistent. The results will not come overnight, and you have to give maximum if you want maximal results. Professional basketball players are performing some of those exercises on a regular basis.

Swimming is also a great thing because it is a natural way of stretching. It forces you to move the entire body. Your hands must go ahead, and you have to stretch your legs as well. In fact, swimming is an excellent exercise for every part of the body, so you should perform it as often as possible if you want to increase your height.

Some yoga positions, such as Cobra are also very good for the purpose. You have to lay down on your chest and toes in a horizontal position while touching the floor with forehead gently. Then you have to place your hands next to the chest while moving your elbow up at the same time. Now push the floor with your hands pulling the chest and shoulders up. Stay ten seconds in that position and repeat it after that. You should continue doing this exercise occasionally, but it is best to use it in combination with other similar movements.

There are a list of other yoga positions that might be helpful for increasing height, and this is just an example of what you should do if you want to grow taller. Stretching on rods and hanging exercises are also good for the purpose. You can do it every day if you have enough free time because it cannot make side effects. However, it is important to warm up muscles before start stretching on rods. If you do not do that, the injuries are possible.

Basketball Players Height Secrets

Professional basketball players train a lot, sometimes 6-7 hours per day. The physical activity itself helps them to support muscles, and it might lead to further growth after early age. If you play basketball every day, you jump to the basket all the time stretching your body that way. Some people have increased their height, thanks to this sports game. But it is not enough if you want maximal results.

Professional players train in a gym a lot, and it also helps them to increase the level of testosterone in their bodies, which might help them to grow more. However, one of the most hidden basketball players height secrets is that they often consume various supplements, and nutrition.

Human Growth Hormone or just HGH is a quite popular product among those who want to grow fast. Many believe a large number of NBA players have been taking it continuously in secret. The product supports growth hormone cells leading to the height boost. It offers many benefits when it comes to this matter, but it can also leave many side effects with an ability to seriously jeopardize your overall health condition. In fact, HGH is a version of the steroid, and they are not recommended for use.

Professional basketball players have a great financial interest though. The salaries are exceptionally high, and they take a risk with an intention to play more efficiently and earn even more.  However, there are other supplements and nutrition programs that might help with this. They are maybe not so efficient as steroids, but they still work more or less, and people use them.

Are Basketball Players Naturally Tall?

Genetic predispositions play an important role, of course. The majority of players are indeed naturally tall, but they also work on themselves, train regularly, perform various exercises and often take different ingredients to support the growth, muscles, and overall health. Playing a professional basketball is a demanding task that requires a full commitment. So they have to involve all those things if they want to achieve success.

However, there are some players that are not tall at all. If you watch basketball games regularly, you have certainly notice that. They are a minority but are very skilled with a ball and efficient while playing. But tall people are usually better under the basket because they can reach it easily making more points enabling their basketball teams to win. That is why scouts often choose them instead of short people. Their teams get more benefits with them becoming more efficient.

Furthermore, many scientific researchers work on that question, and they currently understand just 23% of the genes of the height. It means the scientists do not understand all the factors involved in making people tall and short. However, they will probably discover more in the coming years, so humanity will get a precise answer to the question.

How Do Basketball Players Grow so Tall

They are often tall naturally thanks to the genes. But they also take different supplements and ingredients which help them to increase the height. Professional basketball players train a lot performing various exercises including those for a fast growth. These are common reasons why they are taller than other people.

They combine good genes, various exercises and ingredients to become significantly taller than an ordinary human being. Female basketball players are also taller than women who are not involved in this sport. The reasons are the same for them too.

Tallest NBA Players in History and Today

The tallest NBA player in a history was Gheorghe Muresan from Romania. He was 7.7″ tall and played for Washington Bullets from 1993 to 1997 and for New Jersey Nets from 1998 to 2000. Manute Bol stands at the second place on this list. He was 7.65″ tall and played for Washington Bullets, Golden State Warriors, Philadelphia, and Miami Heat. His NBA career started in 1985 and finished in 1994. He came to the United States from Sudan.   Shawn Bradley is taking the third place on this list. He played for Philadelphia, New Jersey Nets, and Dallas Mavericks during his NBA career.

Many believe Yao Ming is the tallest basketball player ever, but that statement is not correct. He takes the fourth place on the list and was 7.6″ tall. Obviously, Yao Ming was an exceptionally tall basketball player, but he was not the tallest one in the history. Chuck Nevitt from the US was 7.5″ and he stands at fifth position on the list of the tallest NBA players in history. He played for Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, Detroit Pistons, Chicago Bulls, and San Antonio Spurs. He began playing in 1982 and ended up in 1993.

However, some very tall players are still active in NBA. One of them is Boban Marjanovic from Serbia. He is 7.3″ tall and is currently considered as the tallest basketball player in the league. Marjanovic is a member of San Antonio Spurs right now. Tibor Pleiss from Germany is also 7.3″ and takes the second place on the official list of the tallest active NBA players. He currently plays for Utah Jazz.

Kristaps Porzingis is a third with a height of  7.3″ too. He is a basketball player from Latvia and member of New York Knicks. As you can see, the height of currently active players is quite the same one to another, and there are only some minor differences.

Why Are NBA Players so Tall?

They combine their genetic potential with various exercise they perform every day. Those two things enable their growth. Many of them take various supplements and ingredients as well.

Human Growth Hormone is rumored to be popular among professional basketball players around the world, but of course steroids are forbidden, so no one knows for sure the extent or if at all. Steroids can harm your health, and you will put your organism at risk. Natural ways are the best ones definitely. If you protect your health, your body will have higher chances to grow.

How Tall Do You Have to Be to Be in the NBA?

Let’s start with the average NBA player height, which is 6’7. In fact, let’s take a look at each position height, since these aspects can directly affect how tall an athlete has to be in order to succeed in the NBA:

Average NBA Position Measurements:

Position	Height (w/ out shoes)	Height (w/ shoes)	Wingspan	Total Standing reach
Point Guard	6′ 1. 1″	6′ 2.1″	6′ 5.0″	8′ 1.2″
Shooting Guard	6′ 4.2″	6′ 5.4″	6′ 8.2″	8′ 5.1″
Small Forward	6′ 6.5″	6′ 7.8″	6′ 11.1″	8′ 8.8″
Power Forward	6′ 7.7″	6′ 9.0″	7′ 1.0″	8′ 11.0″
Center	6′ 9.7″	6′ 11.0″	7′ 2.8″	9′ 1.2″

Obviously if you are a back to the basket big man who played the center position your whole life (summer camp, high school, college), but if you are just 6’7 then you likely won’t make it in the NBA at that height, since NBA big men are generally 6’10 and higher. As for the guard position, well, technically there is no real minimum, since we know that 5’3 Mugsey Bogues succeeded in the NBA, however he was a rare breed.

Even a recent successful NBA player such as Nate Robinson ended up flaming out of the league by age 30, and he was listed generously at 5’9. Generally speaking, if you are below 6 feet tall, then NBA scouts won’t like your height as a good fit to be an NBA player. And of course, the shorter you are, the stronger and more explosive you have to be in getting to the rim and of course dishing passes, playing defense, and knocking down open shots. Otherwise, being below 6 feet tall means you probably won’t make it in the NBA. Read more here about how to become an NBA player.

What Foods and Vitamins Can Make You Tall?

The most important vitamins are those essential ones. They support a normal activity of your body protecting overall health at the same time. Those vitamins are even necessary and if you have an appropriate quantity in your body, then your organism has significantly higher chances to function normally.

You should use B1, B2, C, and D vitamin on a regular basis if you want to see the improvement in your height. There is no guarantee that this tactic can succeed, but your body will definitely have higher chances to grow more if you take them regularly. Also, calcium is important for bones. They become stronger if they are adequately supplied with it. So you should use calcium on a regular basis as well.

Food that is rich with proteins is also a great thing when it comes to this matter. They are good for your muscles and support their growth. You should not expect a miracle because genetic and your physical activity plays a key role. But your body cannot work if it is not supplied with necessary supplements and quality food. So you have to pay attention to that factor too.

Conclusion: Basketball, Height, and More

Genetics play the most important role when it comes to height, but scientists have not discovered yet how those genes work. The analyzes are going to continue, and the expert will find out everything about them. The continuous research will help scientists to discover how to increase the height of short people in a natural way. They will probably need more time for this, but it will be a great discovery when they finish. Then, all will be able to become tall as basketball players.

Besides, there are some rumors that militaries of particular countries already experimenting with genes, and they most likely know more on this matter. All of the researches are performed in secret laboratories and they do not want to reveal results yet. The entire project is regarded as a top state secret, but if they have managed to achieve some success in this field, then ordinary scientists have higher chances to make a breakthrough in this field too.

It is a great thing to be tall if you are a basketball player, but excessive height has some disadvantages too. Tall kids are usually unhappy because of their excessive height. If you have been the tallest person in your grade, then you know the feeling. Tall drivers have to have a bigger car if they want to come in easily, and such vehicle costs more.

A tall person needs a bigger and longer bad, otherwise, their legs will come out. They can have a problem with the back too. Tall people more often feel pain in that area. There are some other disadvantages too, but those are the most common.

Professional basketball players usually earn a lot, and their height makes them a fortune. That is why many follow this example.  Hopefully, this article helped you to find out why basketball players are so tall. And if you want to reach a similar height, you should follow the steps above.

Does Basketball Make You Taller?

If you’re a fan of professional basketball or have ever watched an NBA game, you’ve probably noticed that the players are substantially taller than the average individual.

This begs the question: Does playing basketball make you taller, or does competitive basketball naturally select for taller athletes because of the advantage it gives them during play?

This is an especially interesting question if you’re looking to add a few inches to your height.

Unfortunately, for those looking to increase their height, no evidence to date suggests that basketball — or any form of exercise — plays a statistically significant role in increasing your maximum height.

Your maximum potential height is primarily determined by genetics, with environmental factors like nutrition during childhood and adolescence playing a secondary role in determining how close you get to your genetic height potential.

The good news is that despite the lack of effect on height, playing basketball offers a host of other benefits that make it an excellent activity for youth and adults alike.

This article breaks down everything you need to know about basketball and increasing your height.

No scientific evidence supports the idea basketball increases your height, and this lack of evidence is not due to a lack of research.

The sport of basketball has been around for a while, and plenty of research has analyzed its effects on physical parameters.

For example, a recent study looked at the effects of 10 weeks of basketball training on youth anthropometric and physiological characteristics. It observed improvements in lean body mass, jump height, grip strength, and other athletic performance (1).

Additional research on adults found that recreational basketball improved various health metrics, such as blood pressure and body fat percentages, after several months of play (2).

Although these specific studies were not specifically meant to assess changes in height, any theoretical height increases would have been noted, as this data was collected from participants.

The point is that basketball is not an understudied sport, so it’s fairly safe to assume that any research on basketball and height would be well published and publicized.

You can further assess the potential effect of basketball and height by breaking down the sport’s athletic movements and looking for research on whether these activities have the potential to increase height.

Basketball as a sport relies heavily on the following movements, all of which have been well studied for their effects on human physiology:

• running and sprinting
• jumping
• changes of direction
• overhead tossing
• chest passing

If you expand your search to studies that have looked at these athletic skills, there’s still a lack of evidence supporting height gains from training programs incorporating exercises in these categories.

Although scientific discoveries can always change the potential evidence supporting the causes and effects of various exercise programs, no evidence supports basketball or any other physical activity intervention as a means to increase height.

Summary

There’s no evidence that basketball or any physical activity has a positive effect on maximum height.

Independent of athletic activity’s lack of effect on height, maximum height and the factors that affect it have been very well studied.

Growth in height is driven by bones growing in length. This process occurs throughout childhood and adolescence.

Bone elongation occurs at the epiphyseal growth plates, which are cartilaginous structures located on the ends of many different bones in children.

The greatest increases in height occur primarily during infancy and again during the pubertal growth spurt.

Toward the end of adolescence and early adulthood, the growth plates harden, and further growth in the length of bones ceases.

Note that it’s still possible to increase bone width and density via a proper exercise and nutrition program. Improving bone density is beneficial for your health, strength, and longevity, but it does not influence your overall height.

The overwhelming body of research on height shows that genetics plays a 60–95% determining role in maximum adult height (3).

Proper nutrition during childhood and adolescence fills in the final determining factor.

Adequate nutrition ensures that you reach your full genetic potential, but you cannot exceed your genetic maximum, which is predetermined at birth.

The same body of research suggests that malnutrition, which can include being either underweight or obese as a child, can decrease your ultimate height as an adult (4, 5).

If nutritional intake is insufficient during youth development, the body prioritizes vital functions and diverts the key nutrients away from bone elongation growth.

If your goal is to maximize the height of your children, ensuring they consume enough of a wide variety of healthy, nutrient-dense foods while limiting junk food is your best bet.

Once again, the limiting cutoff is their genetically programmed maximal height.

When it comes to increasing your height as an adult, there’s no scientifically proven method to do so.

Summary

Maximal height is genetically determined but can be stunted during childhood by inadequate nutritional intake. It’s impossible to increase your height in adulthood.

Although basketball will not increase your height, it’s an immensely beneficial activity for youth and adults alike.

The scientific benefits of basketball and its associated athletic skills have been well studied and include the following (6, 7, 8):

• increased maximal oxygen uptake
• improved time to exhaustion during physical activity
• improved lean body mass
• improved bone mineral density
• decreased mean blood pressure
• decreased body fat percentage
• decreased resting heart rate
• improved upper- and lower-body explosive strength
• improved coordination in both able-bodied and disabled athletes

In general, participation in physical activities delivers a host of benefits.

Given that basketball includes both cardiovascular training as well as plyometric, explosive movements like jumping and passing, playing basketball improves health in several ways.

Additionally, competitive basketball players and serious recreational athletes likely participate in related strength and conditioning to improve basketball performance. This separate training likely compounds the benefits experienced from basketball alone.

Summary

Although basketball does not increase maximum height, it offers many health and performance benefits.

While there’s no evidence that basketball increases your height, you may still be unconvinced when looking at the rosters of elite basketball teams.

This boils down to correlation versus causation.

Since basketball requires players to out jump one another for scoring, blocking, and recovering the ball, taller players have a distinct advantage.

For the same jumping ability, a taller player will reach a greater maximum height.

While a shorter player may be able to compensate for their height by increasing their vertical jump, there’s a practical limit to how much higher you can jump once you’re already an elite athlete.

An elite player with a height disadvantage of 6 or more inches (about 15 or more cm) compared with a similarly skilled player will have an exceedingly difficult time overcoming the physical discrepancy.

For proof of this fact, consider this 2020 statistical evaluation of elite basketball players. It found that teams with greater average player heights consistently outperformed teams with shorter average heights (9).

This was true on both a team level and individual player level, with taller players consistently outperforming shorter players.

As such, coaches selecting players for elite teams will likely favor taller players because, on average, these players will perform better.

Since players are selected on a performance basis, the ultimate result will be that elite basketball team rosters have players who are substantially taller than the average person.

It may be tempting to assume that the years of play required to even try out for an elite team might have influenced the players’ height. Nevertheless, there’s simply no evidence to support this.

Summary

Taller basketball players outperform shorter players, on average, leading to elite basketball team rosters having much greater average heights than the general population.

Although basketball is an overall healthy activity and fairly low-risk sport, there are a few considerations to note when it comes to height and bone growth in youth populations.

Because basketball involves jumping, cutting movements, and the potential for falls and fractures, care must be taken to minimize fracture risks and properly address any fractures that occur.

Research on long bone fractures in children reveals that upward of a third of fractures result in damage to the growth plate (10).

When effectively managed and treated, youth can often fully recover with little to no long-term damage.

In the event of improper treatment, damage to growth plates can stunt or halt growth regarding the overall length of bones.

Growth plate damage can cause a number of problems related to a reduction in maximum height, including the risk of limbs being different lengths.

To avoid this, ensure that any bone fractures sustained during the growing years are promptly assessed and treated by a medical professional.

Another preemptive measure to avoid the risk is ensuring that your child’s youth sports coach fully understands the risks and safety protocols when it comes to youth athletic activities.

During certain stages of growth, the plates are more susceptible to damage, and certain forms of exercise may be contraindicated.

A coach certified to work with youth populations will be very familiar with the ins and outs of safety regarding fractures and plate damage.

Overall, the benefits of youth physical activity, including potentially injurious activity, far outweigh the risks. If proper caution and care are taken both preemptively and following any injury, there’s little risk of stunted growth in youth populations.

For adults, fractures are serious injuries that require varying degrees of medical attention, but they’re not at the same risk of decreased maximal height given that bone length growth is complete in adulthood.

In addition to fractures, basketball has the potential to lead to other soft tissue injuries like sprains and strains.

While these injuries are painful and temporarily debilitating, they do not pose a serious risk of decreased maximal height.

Summary

Among youth, proper preemptive and post-injury care should be taken to minimize growth plate damage risk. Adults are not at risk of decreased height from injuries, and the overall benefits of basketball outweigh the risks among both youth and adults.

Although there’s no scientifically proven method to increase height beyond genetic capacity nor following the hardening of epiphyseal plates, a number of exercise programs and dietary supplements claim to make you taller.

Generally, the only risk of exercise programs aimed at increased height is that they will not work, at least when it comes to height.

The programs may be beneficial for other fitness goals, but be wary of any positive claims about exercise making you taller.

When it comes to supplements, you should practice even more caution. There is no evidence that supplements can increase the height of an adult.

Furthermore, the supplement industry is not regulated, and you run the risk of taking supplements with unverified, untested, or tainted ingredients.

The best-case scenario for height-improving supplements is that they do not work and are a waste of money.

In the worst case, you run the risk of taking potentially harmful ingredients, particularly when you do not know the specific amounts of each component in a supplement blend.

Summary

Exercise programs and supplements claiming to increase height are unproven and unlikely to have the intended effect. Always exercise caution when taking any dietary supplement and consult your healthcare provider in advance.

You may strive to increase your height for any number of reasons, including sports performance and general aesthetics.

Given that basketball players tend to be tall, you might assume that basketball can help increase maximal height.

Unfortunately, no evidence suggests that basketball or any other physical activity increases your maximal height. The same is true for supplements and any other tricks marketed to increase your height.

Height is determined primarily by genetic factors and secondarily by nutrition during childhood and adolescence.

By the time you reach adulthood, your bone growth plates close and further increases in height are biologically impossible.

Great basketball players are taller, on average, because height gives players a distinct advantage on the court. Accordingly, team selections consistently favor tall individuals.

The good news is that playing basketball and participating in similar physical activities offer a wide range of benefits for both health and athletic performance.

Do not be discouraged by the fact that you cannot increase your height.

You can still be a healthy, thriving individual and increase your performance in basketball and other sports through consistent participation and training.