Tacko Fall is the tallest Celtics player ever at 7’6” tall. He is also tied for 3rd tallest player in NBA history. There is a 5 way tie for 2nd tallest Celtic at 7’2”. The best player among the eleven tallest Celtics is Shaquille O’Neal but the player who had the best Celtics career is clearly Robert Parish.
Table of Contents
Who Is the Tallest Celtics Player Ever?
The 10 tallest players in the history of the Boston Celtics are listed below. Tacko Fall is the tallest player in team history at 7’6”.
| Player | Height | Years Played for The Celtics |
| Tacko Fall* | 7’6” | 2020-2021 |
| Artis Gilmore | 7’2” | 1988 |
| Thomas Hamilton | 7’2″ | 1996 |
| Luke Kornet | 7’2″ | 2021-2022 |
| Bruno Šundov | 7’2” | 2003 |
| Stojko Vranković | 7’2” | 1991-1992 |
| Shaquille O’Neal | 7’1” | 2011 |
| Robert Parish | 7’1” | 1981-1984 |
| Dwayne Schintzius | 7’1” | 1999 |
| Matt Wenstrom | 7’1” | 1994 |
* My source for these heights is the Celtics All Time Roster on Basketball Reference. They list Fall at 7’5”, but many other sources including the NBA’s site say 7’6”.
Of the tallest players in Celtics history, Robert Parish easily had the best career for the team.
Parish was acquired along with Kevin McHale in a trade with the Golden State Warriors before the 1980 NBA Draft. He went on to have most of his Hall of Famer career for the Green, playing 14 seasons for the Celtics.
The Chief made 9 All Star games for the Celtics, made two All NBA teams for them and won 3 titles for the team – and one more in his last year with the Bulls.
Parish is not the best player among the tallest Celtics ever. That would be Shaquille O’Neal who is one of the top five centers to ever play – and might be one of the top ten players to ever play.
But Shaq was done by the time he played his single season in green. The most memorable part of his time on the Celtics might be the nickname the Big Shamrock.
I’d take Parish as the second best player (and again, easily the best Celtic) on the list, but a strong case could be made that Artis Gilmore was better. Parish and Gilmore are often closely ranked as Gilmore made a bunch of All ABA teams, won the ABA MVP one year, made 6 NBA All Star teams and made the Hall of Fame as well.
But, like Shaq, Artis Gilmore was washed by the time he played for the Celtics. His lone season in Green was the last of his long basketball career.
Who Were The Other 7-Foot Players For The Celtics?
| Player | Height | Years Played for The Celtics |
| Mark Blount | 7’0” | 2001-2006 |
| Charles Claxton | 7’0” | 1996 |
| Jason Collins | 7’0” | 2013 |
| Mel Counts | 7’0” | 1965-1966 |
| Semih Erden | 7’0” | 2011 |
| Steve Hamer | 7’0” | 1997 |
| Ryan Hollins | 7’0” | 2012 |
| Travis Knight | 7’0” | 1998 |
| Nenad Krstić | 7’0” | 2011 |
| Alton Lister | 7’0” | 1996-1997 |
| Fab Melo | 7’0” | 2013 |
| Chris Mihm | 7’0” | 2004 |
| Darko Miličić | 7’0” | 2013 |
| Eric Montross | 7’0” | 1995-1996 |
| Todd Mundt | 7’0” | 1996 |
| Rich Niemann | 7’0” | 1970 |
| Patrick O’Bryant | 7’0” | 2009 |
| Michael Olowokandi | 7’0” | 2006-2007 |
| Vincent Poirier | 7’0” | 2020 |
| Eric Riley | 7’0” | 1999 |
| Žan Tabak | 7’0” | 1998 |
This is an insanely unmemorable list of players. It is a testament to the fact that being 7 feet tall really gives you a chance to have an NBA career. In many cases the team only gave the player one year, but often other teams followed up or preceded the Celtics with another chance.
Mark Blount did have a nice little run there where he scored 10+ points for a couple seasons. I remember thinking he was going to blossom into something good, but it was not to be.
The Kandi Man, Michael Olowokandi, was picked 1st overall by the Clippers in 1998. They could have had Dirk Nowitzki (9th pick), Paul Pierce (10th) or Vince Carter (4th). Ouch.
Olowokandi was a complete bust and, like some of these other big men, played his last two years in the league for the Celts.
Who Are the Tallest Players on the Celtics Now?
| Player | Height | Years Played for The Celtics |
| Luke Kornet | 7’2” | 2021-2023 |
| Noah Vonleh | 6’10” | 2022-2023 |
| Blake Griffin | 6’9″ | 2022-2023 |
| Al Horford | 6’9” | 2016-2019 & 2021-2023 |
The Celtics brought Luke Kornet up from their Maine G-League affiliate last year. He is still on the roster for this, the 2022-2023 season. He is the tallest Celtic player right now. Kornet, standing at 7’2″, is also one of the tallest Celtics ever.
Two new players make the list of tallest active Celtics: Noah Vonleh and Blake Griffin. Vonleh grew up outside Boston and returns home for his seventh NBA season. Griffin was brought in because of the injury to Rob Williams and will begin his 13th season in the league as one of the tallest Celtic players.
Al Horford is easily the best player among the tallest Celtics. Horford has had a steady career being a good teammate and solid player for many years now.
What About All The Other Celtic Greats? Wasn’t Bill Russell Tall?
Yes. Compared to me, virtually all NBA players are really tall. Except for these guys. But the lists above include every Celtic listed at 7’0” tall or above in Basketball Reference’s list of all-time Celtic players.
The star players you remember are not listed at 7-feet. Below is a table with heights of some of the other, taller, all-time Celtic greats. I am assuming you know that Tiny Archibald was not 7 feet?
| Player | Height | Note |
| Bill Russell | 6’10” | 11xNBA Champion 5x NBA MVP Hall of Fame, obviously! |
| Dave Cowens | 6’9” | I can’t believe he is only 6’9”! 2xNBA Champion 1973 NBA MVP Hall of Fame |
| Kevin McHale | 6’10” | 3x NBA Champion 6x NBA All Defense Hall of Fame |
| Larry Bird | 6’9” | You didn’t really think Bird was 7 feet? 3xNBA Champion 3xNBA MVP Hall of Fame |
| Bill Walton | 6’11” | 2xNBA Champion 1979 NBA MVP Hall of Fame |
| Kevin Garnett | 6’11” | 2008 NBA Champion 2003 NBA MVP Hall of Fame |
| Jonas Jerebko | 6’10” | I’m just kidding. But it is impressive you read this far |
Summary: Tallest Celtics Player
The tallest Celtics player ever was Tacko Fall at 7’6” tall. There have been 11 Celtics taller than 7’0” and another 21 players at least 7’0”. Three of the tallest eleven Celtics players are among the 20 greatest centers of all time: Shaquille O’Neal, Robert Parish and Artis Gilmore. Of those, only Parish had a real career with the team. Outside Parish, none of the all-time great Celtics measured at least seven feet tall, with Russell, McHale, Walton and Garnett just below the mark and Cowens and Bird a little shorter still.
Featured Image Photo Credit: Adapted from “File:Lipofsky-Boston-Garden.jpg” by Copyright by Steve Lipofsky Basketballphoto.com is licensed under CC BY
I have been a Boston sports fan for more than forty years. I write about games, players and seasons from the past.