'Freak thing': 7-foot-6 NBA giant concussed in run-in with ceiling
Tacko Fall is tall. So tall in fact he doesn’t fit in buildings. Even those specifically designed for basketball players.
The Boston Celtics’ 7-foot-6 rookie did not play in the team’s season opening loss against the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday after entering concussion protocol on Monday.
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Head coach Brad Stevens said little about the injury other than “it was kind of a freak thing.”
Prior to the game in Philadelphia, Fall explained it was all due to a “low ceiling” (which is highly subjective).
Fall told MassLive he was washing his hands after a workout at the Auerbach Center practice facility on Friday when he didn’t notice the ceiling height and hit his head.
He didn’t think much of it at first and continued with the team’s swim lesson event at the Charlestown Boys and Girls Club. He then went back to the facility for another workout, still without any ill effects.
He woke up the next morning and didn’t feel well. Stevens told the media on Monday the centre was a “little under the weather” and was being cautious. He would not have been active for the opener, anyway, he said.
The 70,000-square-foot facility opened in June 2018 and features two full-sized parquet floors, a sports science lab, medical room, exercise pools and expanded locker rooms.
The hydrotherapy room has three different water depth elevations at 4, 5 and 7 feet for various heights and the furniture was designed to accommodate taller NBA players.
Tacko Fall is freakishly tall
Yet Fall is not simply a tall NBA player. He is the tallest.
Fall holds the title for the season and is one of only 15 who are at least 7 feet. Eleven of those players are 7-foot-1 and the second-tallest, Dallas Mavericks duo Boban Marjanovic and Kristaps Porzingis, are each listed at 7-foot-3.
Imagine being so tall that a ceiling in a basketball practice facility poses a threat. The world must be an obstacle course for Tacko Fall.
