For some people, being tall is part of their job.
Basketball Players
Height provides a distinct advantage in basketball, which involves placing a ball in a hoop 10 feet (3.05 meters) high. In the 2023-24 season, the average height of an NBA player was 6 feet, 6.5 inches, or 1.99 meters.
The current tallest basketball player in the WNBA is 6-foot-11-inch (2.12-meter) Han Xu of China, who plays for the New York Liberty. When she was drafted in 2019 at age 19, Han became the first Chinese player drafted to the WNBA in 22 years.
Han is just about 3 inches (6 centimeters) shorter than the tallest WNBA player of all time, Poland’s Malgorzata “Margo” Dydek. Dydek played for the San Antonio Silver Stars (formerly Utah Starzz, the Connecticut Sun and the Los Angeles Sparks before retiring in 2008. She died of a heart attack in 2011.
As of the 2024 season, the tallest active NBA player is France’s Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs at 7 feet, 4 inches (2.24 meters) tall. Wembanyama is just 3 inches (7 cm) shorter than the tallest NBA players of all time, Romanian Gheorghe Mureșan and Sudanese Manute Bol, who were both 7 feet, 7 inches (2.31 meters) tall when they played.
Manute Bol died in 2010 at age 47 of kidney failure; Bol’s son Bol Bol is 7 feet 3 inches (2.21 meters) tall and plays for the Phoenix Suns.
Runway Models
According to a 2024 market report from Gitnux, the average height of a female model in the U.S. is 5 feet, 9 inches (1.75 meters), making modeling one of the tallest professions.
In 2023, 5-foot-11-inch (1.8-meter) Chinese model Yilan Hua walked in more fashion shows than any other model. Other tall supermodels include Australian Elle Macpherson (5 feet, 11.75 inches or 1.82 meters) and American Karlie Kloss (6 feet, 1.5 inches or 1.87 meters).
Ekaterina Lisina of Russia holds the world record for tallest professional model. At 6 feet, 8.77 inches (2.05 meters), Lisina is taller than most models (male or female), but shorter than the world’s tallest living woman. (Lizina also played basketball professionally, winning the bronze at the 2008 Olympics.)