Seven Footers in the PBA

It’s not often for Filipino basketball fans get to see a stratospheric player standing all of 84 inches tall and higher, parading his wares on the PBA hardcourt. Seven footers are rare to come by as they are highly marketable in the hoops market. For a country that has only produced two seven foot professional basketball players in Kai Sotto (7’3) and EJ Feihl (7’1), it’s not a surprise that these imports are looked up to, both on the literal and figurative sense.

In the PBA, there have been at least twenty-four (24) imports (as of March 28, 2026) who were measured to be at least seven feet tall. It’s not a petty number, but considering that the league may have brought in around a thousand reinforcements already, dating back to its inception in 1975, this list can be considered exclusive.

We’ll try to identify all the seven foot imports who have showcased their wares once upon a time in the PBA. This is by no means an official count, there may have been a few names that have been left out, but it remains a good list.

The 7-footers from the 70’s

There were two seven foot imports from the 1970’s that played in the PBA, including one on the very first season. That’s right, Nate Stephens was the Carrier Weathermakers’ reinforcement in the 1975 Second Conference, also called the Open. While he may be listed in different websites at 6’11, he is officially 7’0 as measured by the PBA almost 51 years ago. 

Steve Stroud was 7/Up’s import in the 1977 Open, teaming up with Chris McMurray and helped 7/Up to its highest finish ever in their 3-year league stint, a 4^th place finish in the conference. The Caucasian import averaged 14.5 points, 11 boards and 3.8 swats a game, preferring to dominate more on the defensive end while relying on partner import, the 6'7 Chris McMurray, and top local player, Danny Florencio (who averaged a still PBA record 32.3 points for the season), to provide the offense.

White Men Can Jump

It’s not uncommon to see seven footers, especially Caucasians, to be slow, lumbering, and mechanical in movement. But such wasn’t the case among the four players who have already played and the import who is set to bring Converge to the Promised Land. Stroud was the first white seven footer.

In 1981, the Finance Funders (Mariwasa franchise) of Emerson Coseteng brought in 7’1 Jim Zoet to play alongside another caucasian, Michael Carter. Zoet was first introduced to the Filipino fans when he came in as the starting center of the Canada national team in the 1978 World Basketball Championship held here in Manila. Zoet teamed up with Jay Triano and Leo Rautins to help the Canadians to a 6^th place finish. That same team lost to the Toyota Tamaraws by 4 points in an exhibition game prior to the World Championships.

It wasn’t until 2008 when the PBA saw another white seven footer. Coach Yeng Guiao, then with Red Bull, ushered in Adam Parada, a 7’1, US-born Mexican to shore up his frontline suddenly weakened by the trade of Enrico Villanueva to San Miguel Beer. Parada made a good account of himself, helping the Barakos to reach the semifinals only to get swept by the eventual champions, Barangay Ginebra. Parada came back four years later to suit up for the Alaska Aces in the 2012 Commissioner’s Cup but Coach Luigi Trillo’s charges stumbled in the quarterfinals, losing 2-1 to the Barako Bulls.

Bruno Sundov, a second round pick of the Dallas Mavericks in the 1998 NBA Draft, was Rain or Shine’s reinforcement in 2013, making him one of the first European-born players to suit up in the PBA. A big man who can hit baskets beyond the arc, he powered the E-Painters to a second place finish in the elimination round but stumbled against crowd favorites, Ginebra, San Miguel, in the quarterfinals despite carrying a twice to beat advantage. 

And this conference, the Converge FiberXers have paraded the 7’0 Kylor Kelley from Oregon State in their goal to finally make it to the PBA Finals.

Translating to a championship

They say that basketball is a game for tall players, which is why seven footers will always find a way to get some floor burn. Yet, in the PBA, there has only been one time when a seven footer won a championship. 

This happened in the 2008 PBA Fiesta Conference with Ginebra San Miguel, bannering 7’1 behemoth, Chris Alexander, defeating the AIR21 Express, 4-3, in their best of seven setto. The Gin Kings were down 3-2, but their never-say-die spirit came to fore starting in Game 6, with Alexander leading the charge with 37 points and 24 rebounds, knotting the series at 3 apiece with a 80-75 victory. The Kings finished off the Express in Game 7, 97-84, after Alexander found a way to stay in the game despite nursing 5 fouls with more than 10 minutes left in the game.

It would be interesting to see if any of the seven foot imports in the 2026 Commissioner’s Cup would be able to replicate Alexander’s feat, accomplished 18 years ago.

NBA champions

Filipino fans are fortunate to have legitimate NBA champions coming over to play in the PBA. The first one was Glenn McDonald of the Boston Celtics, a replacement import of the U/Tex Wranglers for Hank Williams. McDonald is known to be the hero of Game 5 of the NBA finals between the Celtics and the Phoenix Suns, scoring 8 points in the 3^rd overtime, to catapult the Celtics to a 3-2 lead in the series. David Thirdkill, who was also part of the fabled celebrated and victorious Celtics team, suited up for Tanduay in the 1987 Open and came back in the 1988 Open. Curiously, these two players remain to be the only players in the world to have won an NBA and PBA title. 

Among the seven footers, only two found themselves wearing an NBA ring. Barron was part of the Dwyane Wade-led 2006 Miami Heat team that won the NBA title at the expense of the Dallas Mavericks. D.J. Mbenga, a seven footer from Congo, won two NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers in seasons 2009 and 2010. He played in the 2013 PBA Commissioner’s Cup for Barako Bull.

Partial to seven footers

There have been at least 40 PBA franchises (including guest teams) that have been part of the PBA. But no team has favored hiring seven footers more than the Red Bull / Barako Bull franchise. The team has taken at least 5 seven footers in their roster – starting with Barron, then Parada, then Mbenga. Two more were added in this list – the 7’1 Solomon Alabi of of Nigeria and Florida State, who donned the Bulls jersey in the 2015 Commissioner’s Cup. In the succeeding conference, because of the team’s paltry performance in the Commissoner’s Cup, the league allowed them to field an import with unlimited height. The 7’2 Liam McMorrow of Tennessee Tech was taken in to suit up in the Governors’ Cup.

Balik imports

When imports are called back to play again in the PBA – whether by their original team or their opponents – they’ve earned a badge of approval. Which is why there have been resident imports – the names of Bobby Parks, Sean Chambers, Norman Black and Justin Brownlee – also regarded as 4 of the best imports of all time. 

Four 7-footers have found themselves doing a repeat journey in the PBA, a testament to how the PBA coaches appreciated their game. The first one was the 7’0 Jeff Wilkins, who first played for Galleon Shippers of the CARCO franchise in 1980 before coming back in 1981 to play for CDCP (same franchise with a different brand name), replacing original import, James Lister, the brother of former NBA center and present Ateneo assistant coach, Alton.

Next was Earl Barron of Memphis, another Yeng Guiao recruit, who first suited up for Red Bull in the 2005 Fiesta before being called back by Ryan Gregorio and the Meralco Bolts in the 2012 Commissioner’s Cup. The third was Parada, as mentioned above, who first played for the Barakos and later suited up for the Aces. Alexander, on the other hand, was called back by Ginebra in 2012.

 Twin Tower

Was there ever a time when a PBA team suited up two seven footers as its reinforcement in a PBA conference? The answer is no. In 1981 though, the CDCP Road Builders brought in the 6’9 Lister and the 6’11 Edmund Lawrence of McNeese State, a 5^th round pick of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 1976 NBA Draft to shore up their chances for a playoff spot in the Open Conference. After seven games, Lister was replaced by Wilkins, thereby giving the Road Builders two bigs who can play simultaneously and man the fort inside. Unfortunately, CDCP fell short, ending up 5^th overall, to miss the last bus in the semifinal round in a conference won by the Toyota Super Diesels.

Footnote

Should be of interest that the PBA didn’t allow any import of unlimited height from 1986 to 2003, primarily because the league wanted the locals to be competitive against their foreign rivals. The PBA normally imposed a height limit of 6’6 for several years, which was why several import gems came about during this period. Big names like Billy Ray Bates, Michael Young, Michael Hackett, Thirdkill, Parks, Black, Chambers, Ronnie Thompkins, Tony Harris, Rob Williams, Kenny Redfield, among many others, became household names despite being no taller than 78 inches tall. 

Which leads to this question: will the PBA finally normalize the unlimited height rule for the Commissioner’s Cup? They should, judging from the heightened interest of the fans with the arrival of these stratospheric giants led by the 7’3 Bol Bol, considered as the tallest ever player to play in the PBA alongside Ramos of KIA Carnival.

The unofficial complete list: (updated as of March 28, 2026)

1.     Nate Stephens – 7’0, Carrier (1975)

2.     Steve Stroud – 7’0, 7/Up (1977)

3.     Jeff Wilkins – 7’0, Galleon Shippers (1980), CDCP (1981)

4.     Jim Zoet – 7’1, Finance, Inc. (1981)

5.     Lorenzo Coleman – 7’1, Purefoods (2004-05)

6.     Darell Johns – 7’1, Coke (2004-05)

7.     Ernest Brown – 7’0, Ginebra San Miguel (2008)

8.     Chris Alexander – 7’1 Ginebra San Miguel (2008, 2012)

9.     Adam Parada – 7’1, Red Bull (2008), Alaska (2012)

10.  Earl Barron – 7’0, Red Bull, (2005), Meralco (2012)

11.  Bruno Sundov – 7'2 Rain or Shine (2013)

12.  Jerome Jordan – 7’0, Talk & Text (2013)

13.  DJ Mbenga – 7’0, Barako Bull (2013)

14.  PJ Ramos – 7’3, KIA Carnival (2015)

15.  Liam McMorrow – 7’2, Barako Bull (2015)

16.  Solomon Alabi – 7’1, Barako Bull (2015)

17.  Patrick O’ Bryant – 7’0, Global Port (2015)

18.  Hamady N’ Diaye – 7’0, KIA Carnival (2015)

19.  Kylor Kelley – 7’0, Converge (2026)

20.  Bol Bol – 7’3, Talk ‘N Text (2026)

21.  Marvin Jones – 7’0, Meralco (2026)

22.  Mubashar Ali – 7’0, Terrafirma (2026)

23.  Robert Upshaw – 7’0, Blackwater (2026)

24. Justin Patton - 7'1, san Miguel Beer (2026)