Gheorghe Dumitru "Ghiță" Mureșan (; born 14 February 1971), also known as "the Giant" (), is a Romanian-American former professional basketball player. At , he is one of the two tallest players to have played in the NBA.
Early life
Mureșan was born in Tritenii de Jos, Cluj County, Romania. Although his parents' heights were relatively typical, he grew to his remarkable height due to a pituitary gland disorder called gigantism.
Élan Béarnais Pau-Orthez (1992–1993)
Mureșan played professionally in the French league with Pau-Orthez during the 1992–93 season and was an instant hit with fans, also managing to win the French League Cup. He played in the NBA from 1993 to 2000. His career was affected by multiple injuries, despite showing potential early on. His best season came during the 1995–96 campaign, when he averaged 14.5 points per game.
Mureșan was named the NBA's Most Improved Player for the 1995–96 season after averaging 14.5 points, 9.6 rebounds, 2.26 blocks per game while making a league-leading 58.4 percent of his field goals. He led in field goal percentage again the following season, with a 60.4% average. Overall, he holds career averages of 9.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, 0.5 assists, 1.48 blocks per game and a .573 field goal percentage.
New Jersey Nets (1999–2000)
Mureșan joined the New Jersey Nets for the final 31 games of his NBA career.
Return to Pau-Orthez (2000–2001)
After ending his NBA career, Mureșan had another stint at Pau-Orthez where he won the French league before returning to the United States with his family. This was the only basketball game Mureșan played where he was not the tallest person on the court, as Sun Mingming is .
Other work
right|thumb|Mureșan meeting with [[Nicholas F. Taubman, the U.S. Ambassador to Romania]]
In 2004, Mureșan founded the Giant Basketball Academy (GBA), a program dedicated to teaching the proper fundamentals of basketball to boys and girls of all ages. The Academy is located in Ashburn, Virginia.
Mureșan is also part of the Washington Wizards marketing and public relations team,
Mureșan co-authored two young adult fitness and health books: The Boy's Fitness Guide and The Girl's Fitness Guide.
In 2013, Mureșan participated in the first annual 3v3 UMTTR (You Matter) Basketball Tournament to increase awareness, prevention and research of teen suicide, the leading cause of death among adults and children between the ages of 15 and 24.
Acting
Outside basketball, Mureșan has dabbled in acting, playing the title character in 1998 feature film My Giant starring comedian Billy Crystal. Mureșan also acted in the films Adventures of Serial Buddies (2011) and Manodrome (2023).
He appeared as a ventriloquist in the music video for Eminem's breakthrough single "My Name Is". He has appeared in commercials for Snickers candy bars, and sports television network ESPN.
Personal life
Mureșan and his wife Liliana and sons George (born 1998) and Victor (born 2000) have resided in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, but they relocated to the suburbs of Washington, D.C. Both his sons played college basketball as walk-ons at Georgetown University, where they were coached by Patrick Ewing.
Career statistics
NBA
Regular season
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 1993–94
| style="text-align:left;"| Washington
| 54 || 2 || 12.0 ||.545 ||.000 ||.676 || 3.6 || 0.3 || 0.5 || 0.9 || 5.6
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 1994–95
| style="text-align:left;"| Washington
| 73 ||58 || 23.6 ||.560 ||.000 ||.709 || 6.7 || 0.5 || 0.7 || 1.7 || 10.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 1995–96
| style="text-align:left;"| Washington
| 76 || 76 || 29.5 ||style="background:#cfecec;"|.584* ||.000 ||.619 || 9.6 || 0.7 || 0.7 || 2.3 || 14.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 1996–97
| style="text-align:left;"| Washington
| 73 || 69 || 25.3 ||style="background:#cfecec;"|.604* ||.000 ||.618 || 6.6 || 0.4 || 0.6 || 1.3 || 10.6
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 1998–99
| style="text-align:left;"| New Jersey
| 1 || 0 || 1.0 ||.000 ||.000 ||.000 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0|| 0.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 1999–00
| style="text-align:left;"| New Jersey
| 30 || 2 || 8.9 ||.456 ||.000 ||.605 || 2.3 || 0.3 || 0.0 || 0.4 || 3.5
|- class=sortbottom
| style="text-align:center;" colspan=2| Career
| 307 || 207 || 21.9 ||.573 ||.000 ||.644 || 6.4 || 0.5 || 0.6 || 1.5 || 9.8
Playoffs
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|1997
| style="text-align:left;"|Washington
| 3 || 3 || 23.3 || .444 || – || .875 || 6.0 || .0 || .0 || 1.3 || 5.0
See also
- List of tallest players in NBA history
- List of tallest people
References
External links
- (archived from 2002)
- Gheorghe Muresan profile at InterBasket
- Georghe Muresan Trading Cards/Autographs Page
- NBA.com