Gheorghe Mureșan
Gheorghe Dumitru Mureșan (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈɡe̯orɡe mureˈʃan] (listen); born 14 February 1971), also known as "Ghiță" (Romanian: [ˈɡit͡sə]), is a Romanian former professional basketball player. At 7 feet 7 inches (2.31 m), he is tied with Manute Bol for the tallest player ever to have played in the NBA.[2][3]
Mureșan in 2014 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 14 February 1971 Tritenii de Jos, SR Romania |
| Nationality | Romanian |
| Listed height | 7 ft 7 in (2.31 m) |
| Listed weight | 303 lb (137 kg)[1] |
| Career information | |
| NBA draft | 1993 / Round: 2 / Pick: 30th overall |
| Selected by the Washington Bullets | |
| Playing career | 1991–2001 |
| Position | Center |
| Number | 77 |
| Career history | |
| 1991–1992 | Universitatea Cluj-Napoca |
| 1992–1993 | Pau-Orthez |
| 1993–1998 | Washington Bullets / Wizards |
| 1999–2000 | New Jersey Nets |
| 2000–2001 | Pau-Orthez |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Career NBA statistics | |
| Points | 3,020 (9.8 ppg) |
| Rebounds | 1,957 (6.4 rpg) |
| Blocks | 455 (1.5 bpg) |
| Stats at NBA.com | |
| Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Early life
Mureșan was born in Tritenii de Jos,[4][5] Cluj County, Romania. Although his parents were of normal height, he grew to his remarkable height due to a pituitary gland disorder called acromegaly.[6]
Professional career
CS Universitatea Cluj-Napoca (1991–1992)
Mureșan played competitive basketball at Universitatea Cluj, becoming national champion in 1992.[7][8]
Élan Béarnais Pau-Orthez (1992–1993)
Mureșan played professionally in the French league with Pau-Orthez during the 1992–93 season and was an instant hit with fans, also managing to win the French League Cup.[7]
Washington Bullets / Wizards (1993–1998)
Mureșan was selected by the NBA's Washington Bullets in the 1993 NBA draft.[9] He played in the NBA from 1993 to 2000 showing signs of a promising career that was derailed by injuries. His best season came in the 1995–1996 campaign, when he averaged 14.5 points per game.
Mureșan was named the NBA's Most Improved Player for the 1995–96 season after averaging 14.5 points, 9.6 rebounds, 2.26 blocks per game while making a league-leading 58.4 percent of his field goals. He led in field goal percentage again the following season, with a 60.4% average. Overall, he holds career averages of 9.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, 0.5 assists, 1.48 blocks per game and a .573 field goal percentage.
New Jersey Nets (1999–2000)
Mureșan joined the New Jersey Nets for the final 31 games of his NBA career.
Return to Pau-Orthez (2000–2001)
After ending his NBA career, Mureșan had another stint at Pau-Orthez where he won the French league before returning to the United States with his family.[7] He normally wore number 77, in reference to his height.
On 11 March 2007, Mureșan played a game for the Maryland Nighthawks as part of the tallest lineup in the history of basketball.[10] This was the only basketball game Mureșan played where he was not the tallest person on the court, as Sun Mingming is 7 ft 9 in (2.36 m).
Other work
In 2004, Mureşan founded the Giant Basketball Academy (GBA), a program dedicated to teaching the proper fundamentals of basketball to boys and girls of all ages.[11][6] The Academy is located in Ashburn, Virginia.[12]
Mureşan is also part of the Washington Wizards marketing and public relations team,[6] serving as an "ambassador" for the team.[13]
Outside basketball, Mureșan has dabbled in acting, playing the title character in 1998 feature film My Giant starring comedian Billy Crystal.[14] He appeared as a ventriloquist in the music video for Eminem's breakthrough single "My Name Is." He has appeared in commercials for Snickers candy bars, and sports television network ESPN. Most recently, Mureșan co-authored two young adult fitness and health books: The Boy's Fitness Guide and The Girl's Fitness Guide.[15]
In 2013, Mureșan participated in the first annual 3v3 UMTTR (You Matter) Basketball Tournament to increase awareness, prevention and research of teen suicide, the leading cause of death among adults and children between the ages of 15 and 24.
Personal life
Mureșan and his wife Liliana and sons George and Victor have resided in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey,[16] but they relocated to the suburbs of Washington, D.C.[17] Since the 2016–2017 season, his oldest son, George, has played for the Georgetown University Hoyas as a walk-on forward. His younger son Victor joined the Hoyas as a walk-on in the 2020–2021 season. Victor is 6'10" and 190lbs and has not played in the 2021–22 season.
Career statistics
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
| * | Led the league |
NBA
Regular season
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993–94 | Washington | 54 | 2 | 12.0 | .545 | .000 | .676 | 3.6 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 5.6 |
| 1994–95 | Washington | 73 | 58 | 23.6 | .560 | .000 | .709 | 6.7 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 1.7 | 10.0 |
| 1995–96 | Washington | 76 | 76 | 29.5 | .584* | .000 | .619 | 9.6 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 2.3 | 14.5 |
| 1996–97 | Washington | 73 | 69 | 25.3 | .604* | .000 | .618 | 6.6 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 1.3 | 10.6 |
| 1998–99 | New Jersey | 1 | 0 | 1.0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 1999–00 | New Jersey | 30 | 2 | 8.9 | .456 | .000 | .605 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 3.5 |
| Career | 307 | 207 | 21.9 | .573 | .000 | .644 | 6.4 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 1.5 | 9.8 | |
Playoffs
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Washington | 3 | 3 | 23.3 | .444 | – | .875 | 6.0 | .0 | .0 | 1.3 | 5.0 |
See also
References
- ^ "Gheorghe Mureșan". National Basketball Association. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
- ^ Norris, Luke (April 8, 2020). "What Happened to Gheorghe Muresan, the Tallest Player in NBA History?". Sportscasting.com. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
- ^ "Muresan's back and ready to play". ESPN. October 23, 1999. Retrieved March 21, 2015.
- ^ Vincent, Mal (May 14, 1998). "Basketball's Muresan becomes a big star". The Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 21, 2015.
- ^ "A brief biography of Gheorghe Muresan, the Romanian who became the tallest player ever in the NBA". Romaniajournal.ro. January 6, 2020. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
- ^ a b c . giantbasketball.com. Giant Basketball Academy. Archived from the original on 2010-05-25. Retrieved 2012-01-30.
- ^ a b c Raymond Füstös (19 June 2018). "SPECIAL GSP Ghiță Mureșan vorbește sincer și direct despre viața în America și despre baschetul românesc: "85% dintre jucătorii care se retrag din NBA rămân fără bani!"" [SPECIAL GSP Ghiță Mureșan speaks honestly and directly about life in America and about Romanian basketball: "85% of the players who retire from the NBA remain without money!"] (in Romanian). Gazeta Sporturilor. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
- ^ Șchiopu, Valentin (12 December 2018). "Ghiță Mureșan, după 30 de ani în baschet: "Nu sunt flămând după popularitate"" [Ghiță Mureșan, after 30 years in basketball: "I'm not hungry for popularity"] (in Romanian). Pressone.ro. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
- ^ "1993 NBA Draft". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2008-11-28.
- ^ "Land Of The Giants", Deadspin.com, 2007-03-21, retrieved 2013-09-28
- ^ "Coaches | Giant Basketball Academy".
- ^ Gheorghe Muresan's Giant Basketball Academy
- ^ Casey, Tim (2013-12-02). "Gheorghe Muresan makes time for laughs and hoops". Sports on Earth. Retrieved 2017-03-03.
- ^ "My Giant (1998)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
- ^ . Bigbookpress.com. 2011-12-18. Archived from the original on 2017-04-27. Retrieved 2017-03-03.
- ^ "Giant undertaking". The Washington Times. February 6, 2004. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
That was how the former Washington Bullets center and one-time movie actor—he appeared with Billy Crystal in My Giant—spent most of the past few years: being with his wife, tending his two sons and taking care of their home in Franklin Lakes, N.J.
- ^ "Whatever happened to Gheorghe Muresan?". HoopsHype.com. November 2013. Retrieved 2017-03-03.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from NBA.com and Basketball-Reference.com (archived from 2002)
- Gheorghe Muresan profile at InterBasket
- Gheorghe Muresan at IMDb
- Georghe Muresan Trading Cards/Autographs Page 2011-07-20 at the Wayback Machine
- NBA.com