In a 2011 Sports Illustrated article, author Pablo S. Torre, drawing from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, surmised that “no more than 70 American men are between the ages of 20 and 40 and at least 7 feet tall.”

From this, he further deduced that “while the probability of, say, an American between 6-6 and 6-8 being an NBA player today stands at a mere .07 percent, it is a staggering 17 percent for someone 7 feet or taller.”