NBA.com: Gheorghe Muresan Bio

At 7-7, Gheorghe Muresan developed from an oddity into a legitimate NBA center and a force in the league before injuries slowed his career. He earned the NBA's Most Improved Player Award in 1995-96, his third year in the league, and followed by leading the league in field goal percentage in 1996-97. He missed all of the 1997-98 campaign because of a stretched tendon in his right ankle, and nearly all of the 1998-99 season following back surgery. He was signed by the New Jersey Nets and appeared in the final game of the 1998-99 campaign. Muresan and Manute Bol are the tallest men ever to play in the NBA. A native of the Transylvania region of Romania, Muresan sprouted to his current size because of a pituitary gland condition, not genetics. His father is 5-9 and his late mother was 5-7. Muresan first gained attention in European play. In his first season in the French League he averaged 18.7 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.8 blocks for Pau Orthez. Prior to that he had played for the Romanian national team, where his highlights included scoring 42 points in a win over Sweden in 1992 and averaging 23.4 points and 11.4 rebounds during the 1991 Junior World Championships in Edmonton, Canada. The Washington Bullets took a chance on Muresan, selecting him in the second round (30th pick overall) of the 1993 NBA Draft. Initially he seemed to lack the foot speed and agility to patrol the NBA lanes, but he learned to put his 7-foot-10 armspan to use as an effective if not downright remarkable force: Not only can he hit his surprisingly soft jumper over just about anyone, but he also can block a 7-footer's shot flat-footed. He averaged 5.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 0.89 blocks per contest in limited game time in 1993-94. Midway through the 1994-95 season Muresan became the Bullets' starting center, replacing Kevin Duckworth and bumping Chris Webber to power forward. He recorded some big performances during the year, including game highs of 30 points, 14 rebounds and 6 blocks, and he finished with averages of 10.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.74 blocks per game. He really blossomed in 1995-96, when he was named the league's Most Improved Player after posting career-highs of 14.5 points, 9.6 rebounds, 2.26 blocked shots and 29.5 minutes per game and leading the league in field goal percentage at .584. It represented a remarkable achievement for a player who only three years earlier was regarded as a dubious project by many scouts. Muresan led the NBA in field goal percentage with a .604 mark in 1996-97, although a healthy Chris Webber cut into his playing time somewhat and his averages dropped to 10.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.32 blocks per game. His 1997-98 season was a washout, as he spent the entire season on the injured list with a stretched tendon in his right ankle. A veteran free agent, he underwent back surgery in June, 1998 and missed nearly the entire 1998-99 campaign as well. He signed with the New Jersey Nets and played one minute in the last game of the season.

1999-2000 REGULAR SEASON
Posted 12 points and 11 rebounds in a 111-109 2OT loss at Atlanta on 4/18 Netted 9 points (4-5 FG) in a 129-91 win over Orlando on 3/12 Activated from the injured list on 1/21, after missing six weeks with a torn meniscus in his left knee

1998-1999 REGULAR SEASON
Signed for the remainder of the season by the Nets on 5/3 Underwent back surgery in June to relieve stress on compressed nerves and has not played this season

1997-1998 REGULAR SEASON
Placed on the injured list on 10/30 due to a stretched tendon in his right ankle and missed the entire 1997-98 season

1996-1997 REGULAR SEASON
Muresan shot a league-leading .604 from the field, although Chris Webber's All-Star season reduced his production somewhat. He averaged 10.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.32 blocks in 25.3 minutes, stats that were all down from the previous year. He ranked second on the team in blocks, third in rebounds and fourth in scoring. Muresan made at least half his shots in 56 of the 73 games he played, including 19 in a row from March 6 through April 11. He returned from a back injury to score 12 points and grab eight rebounds in 21 minutes in the Bullets' season-ending 85-81 win at Cleveland that clinched a playoff berth. He scored a season-high 24 points in a 110-102 victory over Chicago on April 3, hitting all six of his shot attempts in the first half and finishing at 11-for-16 from the field. He twice grabbed a season-high 14 rebounds, in a 104-93 win at Charlotte on Jan. 4 and in a 102-82 triumph over Orlando on Jan. 28. He had a season-high four blocks in four games. Though hampered by an injured back, Muresan started all three playoff games against Chicago and averaged 5.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.33 blocks in 23.3 minutes per game. He ranked second on the team in blocks and tied for second in rebounds.

1995-1996 REGULAR SEASON
Selected as the most improved player in the NBA for the season, Muresan raised his stats in all major categories, going from 10.0 to 14.5 points per game, 6.7 to 9.6 rebounds per game, 1.74 to 2.26 blocked shots per game and 23.6 to 29.5 minutes per game. He led the league in field goal percentage at .584, shooting 466-for-798 from the field, and ranked eighth in the NBA in shotblocking and 16th in rebounding. He posted career highs in minutes, points, rebounds, assists, blocks and field goals made and attempted. With Chris Webber limited to just 15 games by injuries, Muresan made the most of his opportunity, playing and starting in each of the Bullets' first 76 games before suffering a torn medial collateral ligament and a partial tear of the meniscus cartilage in the right knee on April 10 and missing the final six games of the season. He scored a career-high 31 points against Charlotte on Nov. 8, grabbed a career-high 21 rebounds at Miami on Jan. 17 and blocked a career-high 9 shots on three separate occasions. He shot 50 percent or better in 58 of the 76 games he played.

1994-1995 REGULAR SEASON
The towering Muresan made giant strides in 1994-95. As a rookie the previous year, the 7-foot-7 Romanian native had often seemed as if he were out of place in the NBA. But in his second season he refined his play and finished among the league leaders in blocks, rebounds, and field-goal percentage and became Washington s starting center. Muresan finished the season with averages of 10.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 1.74 blocks per contest while shooting .560 from the field. He finished 40th in the league in rebounding, 6th in field-goal percentage, and 14th in blocked shots. His averages for points and rebounds were almost double what they had been in his rookie term. Muresan s improvement was even more dramatic when one considers his performance in the second half of the season, when center Kevin Duckworth was out because of an injury and a suspension. In the first 36 games of the 1994-95 campaign Muresan averaged 7.6 points and 5.8 rebounds in 19.8 minutes per outing. In 37 games after the All-Star break he averaged 12.3 points and 7.5 rebounds in 27.3 minutes per contest. In those last 37 games he shot .592 from the floor, and he scored in double figures in the final 17 contests. Muresan set career highs in almost every category. He scored 30 points against Boston on April 9 and blocked 6 shots at Cleveland on March 31. Whether his improvement had a positive effect on Washington is difficult to tell in the 19 games in which he played 30 or more minutes, the Bullets were 3-16. It was a Washington team that didn t win a lot of games anyway; the team finished at 21-61.

1993-1994 REGULAR SEASON
Gheorghe Muresan began playing basketball at age 14 in his native Romania. And then he started to grow. Muresan s father stands 5-foot-9 and his mother 5-foot-7, but a pituitary gland condition caused young Gheorghe to sprout to 7-foot-7. He played for Romania at the 1991 Junior World Championships in Edmonton, Alberta, averaging 23.4 points and a tournament-best 11.4 rebounds. Muresan, who wears a size 19 shoe and has a 7-foot-10+ wingspan, played his first professional season in France in 1992-93. In 25 games for Pau Orthez, he recorded 18.7 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 2.8 blocked shots per game. When the Washington Bullets selected Muresan with the 30th overall pick in the 1993 NBA Draft, he was not the tallest player ever taken. That distinction went to 7-foot-8 Yasutak Okayamo of the University of Osaka, who was picked by the Golden State Warriors in 1981 but never played in the NBA. Muresan and Manute Bol, both listed at 7-foot-7, are the tallest players ever to suit up for an NBA team. The Bullets considered Muresan a project, but the towering center was able to contribute almost immediately. A gifted offensive player who simply needed work on his quickness and mobility, Muresan averaged 5.6 points and 3.6 rebounds in 54 appearances, including two starts. Despite battling nagging injuries for much of his rookie season, Muresan registered 13 rebounds against the Boston Celtics on March 24 and a season-high 21 points against the Charlotte Hornets on April 24. His .545 field-goal percentage was tops on the team.