Dwarfed

In the game of basketball being taller is better. I've been roughly 6'3 pushing 6'4 for the better part of the last 10 years, and that god given physical feature has been instrumental in my success on the court over that same stretch of time. When I walk into a room away from the court it's safe to say that I'm usually one of the bigger guys in the room. Sometimes I'm the tallest, but never the smallest. Over the years I've had literally hundreds of people comment on my height, whether it's the standard "you make me feel short" or "how's the weather up there?" Some of my teammates and opponents over the years have been monstrous and hear the comments even more than I do. I think of my teammate from the Empire State Games back in high school, Brad Sheehan who was 6'10. I had to look up at Brad and that gave me perspective of what a 7 inch difference must feel like to other 5-foot something's looking up at me. Never though have I felt dwarfed, that is until this past week when meeting my new teammate for the Albany Legends, 7-foot 3-inch Shagari Alleyne. This dude is a giant. The thought of someone's height making me temporarily uncomfortable had never come up until I went up and introduced myself to Shagari. Not only did my nose feel like it was lined up with his belly button, but when he first shook my hand his fingers had no other place to go beyond my palm but up my forearm. I thought he was going to eat me. We spoke for a few moments and then just he and I went into the bathroom to find a stall and change for practice. I peaked my eyes just over the top of the stall down the row of toilets to see Shagari's entire torso above the furthest northern point. It was incredible. It seemed like if he wanted to he could reach right over the barrier and flush the toilet in the stall next to him. (To put it in perspective I posted this pic with Shagari next to Shaq. As you can see Shagari makes Shaq's frame seem human). Our coach introduced him to the team and informed us that Shagari spent three years at Kentucky during the Tubby Smith era before transferring to Manhattan for his final year. He's played on numerous teams worldwide including the Harlem Globetrotters under the appropriate nickname "Skyscraper". During that first practice there were a few standout moments I'd never experienced. First I saw a human being for the first time be able to have two feet on the ground and grab the 10 foot high rim. I had heard of it being done but seeing it had me and my 11 teammates in awe. I later went to slap him on the rear for a 'thata-boy' and had to literally swing chest high to reach the appropriate level. When the 7'3 tree dunked the ball for the first time everyone couldn't help but laugh because of just how bizarrely easy it looked. It didn't take long to realize just how nice and gentle of a dude Shagari is too. Soft spoken but sharp witted, Shagari has turned out to be one of my favorite guys on the team. I give him all the credit in the world for being able to handle the attention he demands when his lanky self ducks into a room. People everywhere including his own teammates like me asking him for pictures, lifting kids he doesn't know up to the rim to dunk, and answering questions about his size 23 shoes are all taken in stride. Here is a video from this past Saturday (May 19th 2012) of an effortless offensive rebound and dunk.