Sun Ming Ming

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Sun Ming Ming (Traditional Chinese: 孫明明; Simplified Chinese: 孙明明; pinyin: Sūn Míngmíng, born on August 23, 1983) is a Chinese basketball player. Wearing size 19 shoes and weighing at least 335 pounds (152 kg) (some sources say as much as 370 pounds (168 kg) [1]), and standing at 7 foot 9 (236 cm) - he is one of the tallest living persons on the planet. Sun hails from a small town called Dayan, near Harbin, China, in the Heilongjiang province.

Sun's early career included playing for the Junior Olympic team (U-18) and Daqing club, before coming to the United States in early 2005 to train for a possible NBA career. Sun was declared eligible in the 2005 NBA Draft, but was not selected, probably due to the common complaint of his lack of speed and stamina.

It was later determined through medical exams that the cause of his lack of endurance is a benign brain tumor attached to his pituitary gland that is stifling testosterone production. It is also stimulating over-production of growth hormone, a condition known as acromegaly, and can lead to premature death if not removed. Surgery was scheduled for August 31, 2005, but since Sun had neither health insurance nor enough money to pay for the surgery, it was re-scheduled and Sun's agent, Charles Bonsignore of Passing Lane Sports, started a fundraiser to raise the necessary funds. After the surgery, Sun returned to the court and appeared in a match between Ventura College and Southeastern Community College of Iowa, and was signed by USBL team Dodge City Legend in Dodge City, Kansas on March 30, 2006. On January 31, 2007, he signed with the Maryland Nighthawks of the American Basketball Association and is currently touted as the tallest player in the history of professional basketball. Nighthawks owner and ABA chief operating officer Tom Doyle expects this signing to draw crowds to the games. In his first game with NightHawks, he scored 8 points, 4 rebounds and 3 blocks.

On March 13, 2007 it was announced that Sun Ming Ming has signed on for a full season with the IBL team the Grand Rapids Flight.

Sun has made various television appearances, including on the Jimmy Kimmel Live show on ABC on October 11th, 2006. On the show, Sun Ming Ming and his translator played 2 on 2 vs. Jimmy Kimmel and Wanda Sykes. Sun Ming Ming is also the subject of a documentary television show, "Anatomy of a Giant," which was originally broadcasted on the Discovery Health Channel on October 15, 2006.

He has also finished filming a fight scene with actor Chris Tucker in the upcoming film Rush Hour 3.

He tried out for the Los Angeles Lakers but because of conditioning problems they did not offer him a contract.