El Hadji Tacko Sereigne Diop Fall (born 10 December 1995) is a Senegalese professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for the

New Zealand Breakers The New Zealand Breakers (also known as the Bank of New Zealand, BNZ Breakers for sponsorship reasons) are a New Zealand professional basketball team based in Auckland. The Breakers are the only non-Australian side currently competing in Austral ...

of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL). He has previously played in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA) for the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

and

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

. Fall was born and raised in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

, Senegal. He moved to the United States at age 16 and later played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

UCF Knights The UCF Knights are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Central Florida in unincorporated Orange County, Florida near Orlando, Florida, Orlando. The Knights participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NC ...

. Fall went undrafted in the

2019 NBA draft The 2019 NBA draft was held on June 20, 2019. It took place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible p ...

, but later signed with the

. During his two seasons in Boston, he became a fan favorite. He signed with the

as a free agent in 2021. At , Fall was one of the tallest NBA players and is one of the tallest living humans. At the 2019 NBA Draft Combine, his measurements set all-time NBA records for tallest height in shoes (), longest

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...

(), and highest standing reach (). The NBA now lists players' heights without shoes, so Fall is listed at .

Early life

Fall was born and raised in

, Senegal. In 2011, Senegalese basketball coach Ibrahima N'Diaye, the brother of former NBA player Mamadou N'Diaye, heard from a friend about an exceptionally tall teenager he had seen playing with friends in a local street. After identifying him, they visited the 15-year-old Fall—who already stood tall—at his home and persuaded Fall's mother, Marianne Diop Sene, to allow Fall to start attending N'Diaye's basketball academy. Fall moved to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

at age 16. He first played organized basketball in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, Texas, and trained with NBA Hall-of-Famer

Hakeem Olajuwon Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon ( ; ; born January 21, 1963), nicknamed "the Dream", is a Nigerian and American former professional basketball player. From 1984 to 2002, he played Center (basketball), center in the National Basketball Association (NB ...

. Fall was listed as and was purportedly still growing around his senior year, making him the tallest high-school basketball player in the country while he played for Jamie's House Charter and Liberty Christian Prep. Due to his height and reach, Fall was one of the most highly scouted high-school basketball centers in the nation. Fall first played for Jamie's House Charter School in Houston, where his team won the state championship. Fall played with ISTI all-stars summer travel team and for Each 1 Teach 1 on the

Nike Elite Youth Basketball League The Nike Elite Youth Basketball League, also known as Nike EYBL, or simply EYBL, is a basketball circuit for teams of players aged 17 and under. The circuit was founded in 2010 and is composed of AAU travel teams. Both boys and girls play in the ...

(EYBL) circuit where he played alongside fellow class of 2015 recruits Antonio Blakeney and

Ben Simmons Benjamin David Simmons (born 20 July 1996) is an Australian professional basketball player who plays for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for one season with the LSU Tigers, a ...

. Fall also played in several NCAA certified events, including the NBPA Top 100 Camp in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. He then attended

Liberty Christian Preparatory School Liberty Christian Preparatory School (LCPS) is a private Christian school in Tavares, Florida, United States, run by neighboring Liberty Baptist Church. Founded in 1983, it educates approximately 500 students in kindergarten through 12th grade. A ...

Tavares, Florida Tavares (, ) is a city and the county seat of Lake County, Florida. The population at the 2020 census was 19,003, and in 2019 the population was estimated to be 17,749. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford Metropolitan Statist ...

. As a senior in 2015, Fall averaged 20 points, 15 rebounds, and 5.1 blocks per game. Rated as a four-star and three-star recruit in the 2015 high-school class, nearly 40 different schools expressing interest in him, Fall committed to the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in unincorporated area, unincorporated Orange County, Florida, United States. It is part of the State University System of Florida. ...

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

, who officially signed him on 28 October 2014. He played with the

under head coach

Donnie Jones Donald Scott Jones Jr. (born July 5, 1980) is an American former professional American football, football Punter (gridiron football), punter who played in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the LSU Tigers footbal ...

College career

Fall played college basketball at

for

Knights A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

as a

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

. He faced fellow giant Senegalese center Mamadou N'Diaye, who stands at , in the tallest tip-off and match-up in U.S. college basketball history in a game against

University of California Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, U ...

. Both men come from the same city, Dakar. By his sophomore year, after N'Diaye declared for the

2016 NBA draft The 2016 NBA draft was held on June 23, 2016, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It was televised nationally in the U.S. by ESPN, and was live streamed for the first time in NBA draft history by The Vertical. National Basketball Association (NBA) ...

, Fall became the tallest player in college basketball. During his sophomore season, Fall would make considerable improvements in his playing style. In 2017, Fall was named American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year. Fall grew to be an efficient player, ranking second nationally in field-goal percentage as of January 2017. On 5 April 2017, Fall declared for the

2017 NBA draft The 2017 NBA draft was held on June 22, 2017, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. ...

, with the possibility of returning to Central Florida still available to him before the end of the draft lottery that year. On 24 May 2017, Fall withdrew his name from consideration for the NBA draft, to return to UCF for his junior year. During his junior year, Fall injured his shoulder, causing him to play in only 16 games, totaling 351 minutes. Coming into his senior season, Fall was named to the Preseason Second Team All-AAC. During his senior season, Fall helped lead the Knights to the 2019 NCAA tournament and secured their first victory in program history with a win over

Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a Public university, public research university in Richmond, Virginia, United States. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virgin ...

. In his final game, Fall recorded 15 points and six rebounds in a losing effort against

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

77–76.

Professional career

After the conclusion of his senior year, Fall was named one of 80 participants (40 representing the NBA draft hopefuls) for the NBA G League Elite Camp on 12–14 May. By the end of the event, Fall later got transferred into the NBA Draft Combine as one of an additional 11 participants there. During the combine, he put up new records at the event, including height (which received comparisons to former NBA player

Manute Bol Manute Bol ( ; June 19, 2010) was a Sudanese-American professional basketball player and political activist. Listed at or tall, Bol was one of the two tallest players in the history of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After he p ...

), wingspan, and standing reach.

Boston Celtics (2019–2021)

Despite going undrafted in the

, Fall was signed to an Exhibit 10 Contract on 21 June 2019, by the

. Fall played for the Celtics during the 2019

NBA Summer League The NBA Summer League, also known as the Las Vegas Summer League, is an off-season basketball competition organized by the National Basketball Association (NBA). NBA teams come together to try out different summer rosters instead of their regula ...

season, scoring six points in his first game alongside four rebounds; in his second game, Fall tallied 12 points for his first double-digit scoring game, alongside another rebound. Fall had one blocked shot in each of his first two games. Fall concluded his 2019 Summer League run participating in all five games with the Celtics and averaging 7.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.4 blocks, and shooting a team-high 77 percent from the field. On 25 July 2019, the Celtics officially announced that they had signed Fall. On 13 October, the Celtics officially announced that they had signed him to a

two-way contract A two-way contract is a professional sports contract that stipulates that an athlete's salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play. This is opposed to a one-way contract that would pay the same salary regardless o ...

, splitting time between the Celtics and

Maine Red Claws The Maine Celtics are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Portland, Maine, and are affiliated with the Boston Celtics. The Maine Celtics play their home games at the Portland Expo Building. The Boston Celtics pu ...

. Fall made his debut for the Celtics on 26 October during a game against the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

. He played for four minutes, scoring four points and grabbing three rebounds, with his first points coming from a standing dunk. On 20 December, Fall recorded a season-high five points, along with two rebounds and one block, in a 114–93 victory over the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

. On 13 August 2020, he logged season highs of four rebounds and two blocks in a 96–90 loss to the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

. Fall led the Celtics in field goal percentage during the 2019–20 season. In the G League for the Red Claws, Fall averaged a double-double of 12.9 points and 11.1 rebounds per game. He earned All-Defensive Team honors, with averages of nearly three blocks per game. On 23 November 2020, Fall re-signed with the

on a

, allowing him to play for the Celtics and

in the 2020–21 season. On 30 December, Fall made his season debut for the Celtics, recording two points, a rebound, and two blocks in a 126–107 win over the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division of the ...

. On 15 January 2021, Fall logged a season-high six points, along with five rebounds and one block, in a 124–97 blowout victory over the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NB ...

. On 5 May, he recorded a season-high four blocks in a 132–96 blowout victory over the Magic. On 16 May, Fall grabbed a season-high eight rebounds in a 92–96 loss to the

. Despite being under a two-way contract, Fall never played in the G League during the 2020–21 season due to the Red Claws not playing due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He also led the Celtics in field goal percentage for the second consecutive season.

Cleveland Cavaliers (2021–2022)

On 27 September 2021, Fall signed with the

. On 16 October, his deal was converted to a two-way contract with the

Cleveland Charge The Cleveland Charge are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Cleveland, and are affiliated with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Since 2024, the team plays its home games at Public Auditorium in downtown Cleveland, thoug ...

. On 11 November, Fall made his debut for the Charge, logging a G League career-high 23 points along with 12 rebounds and three blocks in 29 minutes of play. On 22 December, Fall made his first career NBA start in a 111–101 loss to his former team, the Celtics, grabbing a career-high 10 rebounds and a season-high four points. On 9 January 2022, Fall was waived by the Cavaliers.

Cleveland Charge (2022)

On 12 January 2022, Fall was re-acquired by the

Xinjiang Flying Tigers (2022–2023)

On 24 August 2022, Fall signed a one-year contract to play for the

Xinjiang Flying Tigers The Xinjiang Flying Tigers () is a professional basketball team based in Ürümqi, Xinjiang, China. The team plays its home games at the Urumqi Olympic Sports Center, which has a capacity for 12,000 spectators. The club joined the Chinese Bas ...

of the

Chinese Basketball Association The Chinese Basketball Association (), often abbreviated as the CBA, is the first-tier men's professional basketball league in China. The league is commonly known by fans as the CBA, and this acronym is even used in Chinese on a regular basis ...

. Fall joined the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

for the

2023 NBA Summer League The 2023 NBA Summer League (branded as ''NBA 2K, NBA 2K24'' Summer League 2023 for sponsorship reasons) was an off-season competition held by the National Basketball Association (NBA) primarily at the Thomas and Mack Center and Cox Pavilion in Las ...

Nanjing Monkey Kings and New Zealand Breakers (2023–present)

On 17 August 2023, Fall signed with the

Nanjing Monkey Kings The Nanjing Monkey Kings () are a Chinese professional basketball team based in Nanjing, Jiangsu, which plays in the Southern Division of the Chinese Basketball Association The Chinese Basketball Association (), often abbreviated as the CB ...

of the Chinese Basketball Association. In 44 games during the 2023–24 season, he averaged 8.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game. In September 2024, Fall joined the

of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL) for the club's three-game U.S. tour. He went on to miss all three games due to a quad injury. Fall returned with the Breakers to New Zealand, where he trained with the team as a practice player. On 26 November, Fall signed a two-year contract with the Breakers. In 18 games during the

2024–25 NBL season The 2024–25 NBL season was the 47th season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of ten teams contested in the 2024–25 season. The league extended its partnership with ESPN Australia. All games are availa ...

, he averaged 11.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. On 2 March 2025, Fall signed with the Nanjing Monkey Kings for the rest of the 2024–25 season. In 12 games, he averaged 11.0 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game.

Player profile

Given his size, Fall plays the

position. His shoe size is 22 (US), his wingspan is and he has a reported standing reach of . Fall also has a maximum vertical leap of . His hands measure at in length and width. Prior to the 2019 NBA draft, Fall was viewed as a great shot blocker who was relatively lacking in lane agility and three-quarter-court sprinting speed.

Career statistics

NBA

Source

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, 7 , , 0 , , 4.7 , , .786 , , — , , .333 , , 2.1 , , .1 , , .1 , , .6 , , 3.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 19 , , 0 , , 7.2 , , .724 , , — , , .333 , , 2.7 , , .2 , , .1 , , 1.1 , , 2.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

, 11 , , 1 , , 5.4 , , .417 , , — , , .286 , , 2.1 , , .2 , , .0 , , .5 , , 1.1 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 37 , , 1 , , 6.2 , , .673 , , — , , .320 , , 2.4 , , .2 , , .1 , , .8 , , 2.2

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

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, 2 , , 0 , , 1.5 , , 1.000 , , — , , .500 , , .5 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 1.5 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 1 , , 0 , , 1.0 , , — , , — , , — , , 1.0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 3 , , 0 , , 1.3 , , 1.000 , , — , , .500 , , .7 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 1.0

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;", UCF , 30 , , 26 , , 17.6 , , .750 , , — , , .558 , , 5.9 , , .3 , , .1 , , 2.3 , , 7.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;", UCF , 36 , , 36 , , 26.3 , , .715 , , .000 , , .462 , , 9.5 , , .6 , , .3 , , 2.6 , , 10.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;", UCF , 16 , , 15 , , 21.9 , , .767 , , — , , .460 , , 7.3 , , .3 , , .3 , , 1.9 , , 11.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;", UCF , 32 , , 32 , , 24.9 , , .750 , , — , , .363 , , 7.7 , , .5 , , .3 , , 2.6 , , 11.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 115 , , 110 , , 23.0 , , .740 , , .000 , , .432 , , 7.7 , , .4 , , .2 , , 2.4 , , 10.1

Personal life

Fall is a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

, and selected the jersey number 99 with the Celtics as a reference to the 99 names of Allah. He is not the only tall member of his family; Fall's younger brother was reportedly at age seven, while two of his uncles are , but his extreme height stands apart even among them. Fall maintained a 4.0

grade-point average Grading in education is the application of standardized measurements to evaluate different levels of student achievement in a course. Grades can be expressed as letters (usually A to F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), percentages, or as num ...

(GPA) in high school, while taking advanced mathematics and science classes. He became fluent in English within eight months and scored in the 95th percentile on the

SAT The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and Test score, scoring have changed several times. For much of its history, it was called the Scholastic Aptitude Test ...

. Fall was a computer-science major at UCF and originally had aspirations of becoming an engineer for electronic companies such as

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

References

External links

*
NBL profile

UCF Knights bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fall, Tacko 1995 births Living people Basketball players from Dakar Boston Celtics players Centers (basketball) Cleveland Cavaliers players Cleveland Charge players Maine Red Claws players Nanjing Monkey Kings players NBA players from Senegal New Zealand Breakers players Senegalese expatriate basketball people in China Senegalese expatriate basketball people in the United States Senegalese men's basketball players 21st-century Senegalese sportsmen Senegalese Muslims UCF Knights men's basketball players Undrafted NBA players Xinjiang Flying Tigers players