LeBron recruits 7ft 6in former firefighter dubbed ‘Wembanyama stopper’ to Philadelphia 76ers

Sep 2, 2026 - 10:45

The Philadelphia 76ers have gone big this offseason. Literally.

Not only have the Sixers signed NBA legend LeBron James and former Boston Celtics Finals MVP Jaylen Brown, they have now added 7-foot-6 big man Tacko Fall.

Fall is most remembered for his stint with the Boston Celtics

The 76ers announced Fall on September 1 along with Jameer Nelson Jr. and Saint Thomas, with ESPN reporting that all three signed Exhibit 10 contracts and will participate in training camp.

An Exhibit 10 contract is a non-guaranteed camp deal, giving Philadelphia a chance to evaluate Fall before deciding what to do with him.

76ers sign ‘Wembanyama stopper’ Tacko Fall

Fall last played in the NBA during the 2021-22 season for the Cleveland Cavaliers and was a teammate of Brown’s on the Celtics between 2019-2021.

“It is an opportunity of a lifetime that I shall not waste,” Fall said after joining Philly. “Really looking forward to playing alongside JB and doing whatever it takes to help the team.”

Many have dubbed Fall the ‘Victor Wembanyama stopper’ given his incredible height, and the fact he’s two inches taller than the San Antonio Spurs phenom, who’s widely considered one of the best basketball players in the world.

Some, including former NBA star turned ESPN talking head Kendrick Perkins, believe the 76ers picked Fall up for the sole reason of slowing down Wemby, should the two teams meet in the 2027 NBA Finals.

“Wemby is to Blame for this move!!! 76ers definitely going all in!!!” Perkins wrote on X.

Rise to fame as an NBA cult hero

Fall rose to stardom during his college days at UCF, where he took college basketball by storm due to his 7-foot-6 stature.

Spending all four years of his eligibility at the University of Central Florida, the center played 115 games, averaging 23.0 minutes per contest. He averaged 10.1 points shooting 74.8 percent from the field, as well as averaging 7.7 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game.

Declaring his eligibility for the NBA Draft in 2019, although he went undrafted, the Celtics signed him to an Exhibit 10 Contract that summer.

Fall towers over other NBA stars, including Steph Curry

Fall was recently released by the New Zealand Breakers after one season playing in the NBL

After a successful Summer League campaign, the Celtics announced in October 2019 that they had signed Fall to a two-way contract.

A late-bloomer as a result of growing up in Senegal and playing soccer first, Fall spoke about his journey into professional basketball in September 2021.

“Sometimes we wouldn’t have an actual ball, so we would take a bunch of plastic bags and stuff, wrap it and make it round enough,” he said. “Basketball came into my life pretty late. It was the last sport that I tried. It wasn’t even something I envisioned as a professional.”

But Fall’s tenure in the NBA was short-lived, playing a total of just 37 games across three seasons between 2019-22 for the Celtics and then the Cleveland Cavaliers, mostly in garbage time. In that span, he recorded career numbers of 2.2 points shooting at a 67.3 percent clip, and 2.4 rebounds.

Nonetheless, he shared a court with Jayson Tatum and Brown as teammates, while he got to see time against the likes of NBA three-point record-holder, Stephen Curry.

After falling out of the league in 2022, Fall went to China to play for the Xinjiang Flying Tigers before returning to the NBA briefly to play for the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2023 Summer League.

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However, he would return to the Chinese Basketball Association later that August, this time joining the Nanjing Monkey Kings before departing for the Australian National Basketball League in September 2024.

In the 2024-25 NBL season, Fall played 18 games in which he averaged 11.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per outing, but this wasn’t enough as the Breakers released him in July.

Then, the 30-year-old basketball journeyman returned for his third stint in the CBA, with the Ningbo Rockets.

He also appeared in the 2026 NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, putting up 20 points, 21 rebounds, and five blocks, as dominated the competition.

Fall went viral after learning to become a firefighter

Fall has also found the time to complete several side quests during his incredible career.

He recently turned his hand to training to become a firefighter, having been spotted in a video posted to social media in full bunker gear.

Tacko Fall attempted firefighting drills as he explored the possibility of landing a new career

The 7-foot-6 basketball center could be seen wearing turnouts that were far too short for him

The viral clip depicted the Senegalese-born basketball player towering over everybody else wearing turnouts that are far too short for him, coming up nearer to his knees than his feet, and donning some white and neon pink and green basketball sneakers that weren’t even laced up.

With an axe in hand, Fall entered a simulation room with a trainer, tasked with retrieving and evacuating a human-sized dummy from the room filled with smoke and down the stairs to safety.

Fall was congratulated after rescuing a life-sized dummy from the fire simulation

When told by the trainer that he had just completed his first rescue, Fall’s first reaction was to jokingly ask: “Do I get a medal yet?”

The trainer responded: “You know what? We’ll do something, we’ll figure something out.

Fall then asked about whether he could be taught CPR as he “wants to learn how to do that”, which was met with huge enthusiasm from the trainer.

It seems that this experience was just a taster session for Fall, having also tried his hand at Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu last year, attending the Josh Presley Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu School, and even finding Gi (uniform) to fit his long frame.

Should Fall ultimately decide to go on to complete actual firefighting training one day- and subsequently qualify – then he would break the Guinness world record for being the tallest firefighter ever, surpassing Brandon Berridge who registers at 6-feet-11.