Sun Mingming

{{Infobox basketball biography

| name = Sun Mingming

| image = Sun Ming Ming.jpg

| caption = Sun in 2006

| team =

| number =

| league =

| height = {{convert|2.36|m|ftin|abbr=on}}

| weight = {{convert|168|kg|lbs||abbr=on}}

| position = Center

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1983|08|23}}

| birth_place = Bayan County, China

| college = Ventura College (2005–2006)

| draft_year = 2005

| career_start = 2006

| career_end = 2012

| team1 = Dodge City Legend | years1 = 2006

| team2 = Maryland Nighthawks | years2 = 2007

| team3 = Grand Rapids Flight | years3 = 2007

| team4 = Fuerza Regia | years4 = 2007

| team5 = Grand Rapids Flight | years5 = 2008

| team6 = Hamamatsu Phoenix| years6 = 2008–2009

| team7 = Beijing Ducks | years7 = 2009–2012

| highlights =

}}

Sun Mingming ({{zh|s=孙明明|p=Sūn Míngmíng}}, born August 23, 1983) is a Chinese former professional basketball player. He was the tallest professional basketball player in the world and was measured by the Guinness World Records as {{convert|2.36|m|ftin|abbr=on}} tall and weighing {{convert|168|kg|lbs|abbr=on}}.{{cite web | url=https://www.recordonline.com/story/sports/2007/02/01/sun-ming-ming-7-9/52976778007/ | title=Sun Ming Ming, 7'9" pro basketball player }}

Early life

He was born in a small town near Bayan County, Harbin in Heilongjiang Province, China. He has two siblings: a brother and a sister.{{cite web|url=http://www.sevenfootnine.com/welcome.html| title=Official website}} He did not begin playing basketball until he was 15 years old.{{cite news|first= Jorge|last= Sierra|url=http://www.hoopshype.com/interviews/sun_sierra.htm |title= Sun Ming Ming: 'The NBA is a realistic goal'|work=Times Online|date= January 15, 2006|accessdate= 2007-04-30}}

College career

Sun attended and played basketball at Ventura College, a community college in Ventura, CA. He played basketball there for only the 2005–2006 season, before moving on to play professional basketball.{{cite news|url=http://www.vcstar.com/sports/sun-makes-basketball-camp-exciting-at-ventura-college-ep-375429121-352860871.html |title=Sun makes basketball camp exciting at Ventura College |newspaper=Ventura County Star |first=Rich |last=Romine |date=June 28, 2007 |access-date=14 May 2016}}

Basketball career

=United States=

Sun played with several American minor league teams, including the USBL team Dodge City Legend,{{cite news|first= Joshua|last=Kinder|url= http://www.dodgecitylegend.com/news_060409.html|title= Legend Signs World's Seventh Tallest Man|accessdate= 2007-04-30}} the ABA team Maryland Nighthawks,{{cite news|url=http://www.marylandnighthawks.com/news_01_31_07.htm |title= Maryland Nighthawks officially sign 7'8" Sun Ming Ming|date= January 31, 2007|accessdate= 2007-04-30 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070329053519/http://www.marylandnighthawks.com/news_01_31_07.htm |archive-date = 2007-03-29}} and the IBL team Grand Rapids Flight. He was also drafted by the Harlem Globetrotters in 2007, being the tallest player in their history to be drafted by them, although he would never play for them.

=Mexico and Japan=

Later, Sun played in the Mexican league with Fuerza Regia{{cite news| location= Monterrey, Mexico| date= 21 June 2007|url= http://www.chinapost.com.tw/sports/112982.htm |title= Chinese giant Sun Ming Ming set to play in Mexico|work=The China Post|publisher= AFP| accessdate= 2015-08-19}} and in Japan's bj league with Hamamatsu Phoenix.

=Return to China=

In 2009, he returned to China to play for the Beijing Ducks in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA).

Personal life

In the summer of 2005, Sun discovered that he had a benign tumor attached to his pituitary gland.{{cite news|url= https://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=2685447&page=1|title=Surgery May Help Giant Achieve NBA Dreams|publisher= ABC|date=November 28, 2006|accessdate= 2008-03-13}} Because he had neither health insurance nor enough money to pay for the more than $100,000 in medical bills, his sports agent, Charles Bonsignore of Passing Lane Sports, started a fundraiser to raise the necessary money.{{cite web|url = http://www.scanews.com/2005/09/s787/78720/|title = Fundraiser Launched To Get Life-Saving Surgery For Basketball Player Sun Ming Ming|accessdate = 2008-03-13}} The tumor was successfully removed on September 26, 2005.{{citation needed|date=February 2018}}

On 4 August 2013, he married Xu Yan, who is {{convert|6|ft|2|in|m}} tall. They are recognized by Guinness World Records as the tallest living married couple with their combined height of {{convert|13|ft|10.72|in|cm}}.{{cite web|title=Record holder profile: Meet Sun Mingming and Xu Yan – the world's tallest married couple|url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2015/9/record-holder-profile-meet-sun-mingming-and-xu-yan-the-world%E2%80%99s-tallest-married-395648|website=Guinness World Records|publisher=Guinness World Records, London, UK|accessdate=12 January 2017}}

Filmography

=Film=

Year !English title !Original title !Role
class="wikitable sortable"
2007	Rush Hour 3		Kung-Fu Giant
2016	Funny Soccer	笑林足球	Dragon
2017	The Thousand Faces of Dunjia	奇門遁甲	Goldfinger

=TV series=

class="wikitable sortable"
Year !English title !Chinese title !Role !class="unsortable"\|Notes
rowspan=2\|2016	Singing All Along	秀麗江山之長歌行	Giant
Candle in the Tomb	鬼吹灯之精绝古城	Honghou

class="wikitable sortable"

Year

!English title

!Chinese title

!Role

!class="unsortable"|Notes

rowspan=2|2016

Singing All Along

秀麗江山之長歌行

Giant

Candle in the Tomb

鬼吹灯之精绝古城