Vikas Uppal: 17 years, 8-foot 3-in (2.51m), and 450 lbs

[stuart]

17 years old, 8 foot 3, and 450 lbs

stuart
03-15-2004, 01:20 PM

If this kid can stay healthy, look out for Vikas Uppal...

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2004/200...punjab1.htm#16



Wow.

Stuart

NaFioN
03-15-2004, 01:25 PM

i am speechless but he is not basketball player, right ???

stuart
03-15-2004, 01:34 PM

Not yet.

Stuart

Juan Carlos Nadal
03-17-2004, 07:58 AM

OH MY G... LENIN!

That's scary! Do we know if he's capable of playing basketball or if it's just another Sultan Kosen case?

Crazy Fan From Idaho
03-17-2004, 08:00 AM

WOW...That's amazing!!!

Hard to see how he could possibly stay healthy enough to seriously compete. The human body just can't withstand the stresses that size like that imposes. But who knows?

Surely SOME team will find room for him.....even if they have to bust out the ceilings!

K-2 Young
03-17-2004, 09:46 AM

WAOUUUUUUUUU
Can you imagin that???

K-2 Young
03-17-2004, 09:53 AM

www.geocities.com/supertall2001/

the tallest one i find was 8'11" or 2.72.m
Robert Pershing Wadlow and he past away.

worldbasketball
03-17-2004, 03:48 PM

You know the first thing that comes to mind.
Where did he go to school?
Didn't they have some athletics department to introduce him to proper coaching channels.
Didn't have he friends who really cared for him and introduce him to basketball at an early age.

These things don't happen suddenly you know.
Meanwhile valuable time has been wasted if he wasn't properly encouraged at the right time

stuart
03-19-2004, 10:13 AM

Agreed.

Something like this, you know the idea of it had to have gone through their minds. Growing up in Inida, perhaps the parents did not think that basketball was ever a real possibility for a career.

I am not sure how strict their government is about participating in sports programs, like say, China is. With the correct training and work, this boy could have been a wonder, even moreso than he currently is.

Stuart

worldbasketball
03-19-2004, 10:18 AM

I am not judging by one picture, but the way things look, it is already too late for this guy anyway.

But I am sure in the younger generation that is growing now and the media awareness that we have now, new guys will emerge from India. I mean just the sheer numbers say there's got to be very similar talent in India as there is in China for example.

What lacks is the proper scouting, training and dedication to basketball.

[stuart]

dajahit
06-22-2004, 03:59 AM

Simply tooooooo big for anything

Matiz
06-22-2004, 04:35 AM

...he could be a good electrician...

jokinen 06-22-2004, 09:22 PM

I can't believe it!

dajahit 06-24-2004, 03:13 AM

you got that right, I guess he won' be needing scouting and agent services for that would he????

navibharj 07-20-2005, 09:17 AM

im going to india really soon and i live close to this guys village ill check him out and send a possible scouting report

electrican LMFAO

Saskibaloia 07-20-2005, 07:09 PM

Good stuff champion.

Increadible. Man we need him on our club team. We got 6 point guards and the rest are swingmen

He won't need to jump to dunk the ball

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[Get Rich Or Die Playin]

Amazing!

[BBallfanJ]

That guy makes The Great Khali just look average.

[Arjun]

Look at the photo. The difference between the second tallest guy (black jacket, to Uppal's right) and the shortest guy (to Uppal's left) is about 8 inches (give or take 1/4 inch). Now, assuming you are using IE 6.0 with the standard arrow as the mouse pointer, the length of the arrow corresponds to roughly 8 inches as well (second tallest guy is one arrow taller than shortest guy). You can determine this in another way too: the second tallest guy has a head which is very unlikely to be more than 10 inches long, if you don't count the fat on the dude's chin and his spiky hair) and one arrow is somewhat less than his total head length (about 4/5th, or 8 inches again IF his head is 10 inches - it may be slightly less)
Now, measure from the top of the second tallest guy's head (excluding hair) to the top of Uppal's head (excluding hair). You will find the difference to be just about 2 2/3 arrows , or 8 * 2 2/3 = 21.3 inches. 21 inches = 1 foot 9 inches. So far, whatever I have said is pretty much beyond dispute.
Now, the shortest guy, you can tell by his proportions, is pretty short. I'd say he's no more than 5'3", if that. Assuming he is 5'3", the 2nd tallest guy is 5'11" (as he is one arrow, or 8 inches taller) and Uppal is 2 2/3 arrows (1 foot 9 inches) taller than him in turn, making Uppal about 7'8". Since this is a pretty good picture to compare heights (dead-on front camera angle, everyone standing pretty straight) this looks right to me. Now 7'8" , while considerably less than his 8'3" claim (one recent article even claims 8'9"!) is still VERY VERY tall. He'd easily be the tallest Indian and one of the tallest guys in the world. Keep in mind that all these measurements are conservative, and if he isn't 7'8", its much more likely that he is shorter than that height than taller. However, he clearly is'nt any shorter than 7'5" (unless he's standing on a platform LOL)
Cheers,
Arjun