There’s an urban myth that if a player is over seven feet tall, he’ll make it into the NBA – but Romanian basketball star Robert Bobroczkyi was so tall he had to stop playing the sport.
Bobroczyki grew to an incredible height of 7’7″ without having any growth disorder or hormonal disease. Instead, it was simply strong, healthy genetics that allowed him to grow to such an impressive height.
His father, Zsigmond, was an international basketball player with a height of 7’1″ while his mother Brunhilde was a handball and volleyball player with a height of 6’1″. So it makes sense that he’s grown to the huge height he did – Bobroczyki was 6’2″ at just eight years old!
Remarkably, Bobroczyki was taller than his mother when he was eight, then he surpassed his father at 12. When he reached 7’7″, he made his high school basketball debut in 2017.
Videos were captured of the star and he quickly rose to viral fame, with many fans in awe of his skills despite his towering size. The Romanian reportedly showed an impressive mid-range jump shot as well as a nice range of passing and vision.
Bobroczyki was recruited by Italian amateur team AS Stella Azzurra when he was 14 years old. Thanks to his size and skill, he helped the team win the National Under-15 Championship before deciding to move to the United States in 2016.
The Romanian giant moved to Geneva, Ohio, where he joined the SPIRE Institute and Academy and became a teammate of future NBA star and Charlotte Hornets point guard LaMelo Ball. While he was tall, Bobroczyki struggled on the court due to his lack of stamina, agility, and muscle.
(Image: The Washington Post via Getty Images)
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To ease his transition to the faster and more physical American basketball, Bobroczyki played a limited number of minutes during his rookie season before making his debut in January 2017. He then became a student at nearby Grand River Academy in January 2018.
Bobroczyki enrolled at the University of Rochester in 2020 as the Covid pandemic derailed his college career. He moved to Romania during the pandemic but returned to America and SPIRE in 2021.
But, with a towering height of 7’7″, Bobroczyki suffers from scoliosis – a disorder marked by sideways curvature of the spine and lower back discomfort experienced at an early age. Doctors’ first concerns were related health to his size and whether or not he would stop growing.
However, luckily, it seems his growth has stalled – but unfortunately, the height Bobroczyki was blessed with ultimately prevented him from achieving his NBA dream due to his health issues.