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Taylor Snow: Celtics first-rounder Hugo Gonzalez had the longest hand measurement of any player at the Draft Combine. 10.25 inches from the tip of his middle finger to the base of his palm. Only three players in the last 15 years have measured over 10 inches in hand length at the Combine: 1. Tacko Fall – 10.50" 2. Hugo Gonzalez – 10.25" Xavier Tillman – 10.25"
Former Celtics player Tacko Fall signed with Chinese team Nanjing Monkey Kings for the remainder of the 2024-25 season.
How tough has it been for you in your journey of trying to get back to the NBA? Tacko Fall: For me, I just been taking it by the day. I haven’t been focusing on how hard it is going to be. I believe I have the skillset. I mean obviously I have the size. I do know I have the skillset. I wasn’t fortunate to be in the situations where I have a lot of opportunities to be able to show that, so when that opportunity comes, I just gotta show that. Even when I was in two great organizations, I mean I loved being with the Celtics, people really believed in me, but it was just not the right situation for me to be able to have the chance to be on the court a lot. At this point, I think that’s all I need.
Do you look at any NBA player now, and think 'I could play like him' and get on the court and be in an NBA rotation? Tacko Fall: Absolutely. There’s a lot. There’s Rudy [Gobert] defensively. Rudy has multiple Defensive Player of the Years. Great player. Pretty much everything he can do on the defensive end of the court I think I’m capable. Being longer, back-to-the-basket guy, low-post scorer. I believe there’s really nobody who can, once I have a good position, there’s really not much that anyone can do. So is this a matter of finding the right situation? Even Rudy, if you put him in the wrong situation, he might not be in the same boat as he is now. Many of these situations where people have him playing at his strength, and like I said, that’s all I need.
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Tacko Fall signing with team in New Zealand
Tacko Fall will join the New Zealand Breakers for the remainder of the 2024-25 NBL season, sources told ESPN, after the team announced it had parted ways with American big-man Freddie Gillespie. Gillespie played his final game with the Breakers on Saturday against the Cairns Taipans, leaving the team with averages of 6.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, and a league-leading 1.8 blocks per game.
Tacko Fall is so convinced that the pathway with the Auckland club is the right one, he has moved his wife and children to New Zealand to be part of the experience. “So far I’m just rehabbing – making sure I’m 100%,” Fall told a group of media at Breakers HQ this week. “They’ve been really good. The doctors have a plan for me, so these next few weeks are about training and getting back up to speed.”
The giant centre with a 2.50-metre (8ft 2in) wingspan, who played last season in China and Puerto Rico, is adamant he can get back into the NBA. “I’m a much better player now than I was a couple of years ago when I left the NBA,” he said. “It’s using this opportunity to get back in shape because you never know what can happen.”
And as far as the NBA goes, the former Celtic has no qualms in declaring the defending champs the team to beat again in ‘24-25. “It’s not because I played for Boston ... OK, I’m a little biased ... but I do think they have the best team in the league right now.”
After two seasons in Chinese CBL, Tacko Fall will play for New Zealand Breakers of NBL next season, and he is set to debut tonight against Philadelphia 76ers in a pre-season game. ClutchPoints used that chance to interview Tacko Fall, starting straight-away with a question regarding his NBA comeback. "Obviously, as a competitor, you want to play at the highest level. I've played in the NBA. I mean, a couple of years ago, I was an NBA player. Now, I'm an even better player. I'm more experienced." "My body, like I said, feels much better. I move a lot better and I'm still fairly young. I definitely want to put myself in a position where there's opportunities for me to make it back. But at the same time, I just want to take it day-by-day and focus on the task at hand and just take it as it comes."
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Daniel Donabedian: Although Tacko Fall is no longer in the NBA, he’s still very close with the Celtics stars. He even told @BySamDiGiovanni that Jaylen Brown is the godfather to his daughter. “Some of those guys are some of my closest friends … I speak to Jaylen often ... I speak to Jayson often ... I'm still very close to the organization.”
New Zealand Breakers add Tacko Fall to play in three NBA preseason games
Tacko Fall will join the New Zealand Breakers for their three NBA preseason games in early October, sources told ESPN. The former NBA big-man - who stands at 7'6 - will be a guest player for the Breakers, suiting up for the NBL team for their preseason games against the Utah Jazz, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Philadelphia 76ers.
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