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Tacko Fall was one of the notable players who went undrafted in the recent 2019 NBA Draft. A 7-foot-7 giant with an 8-foot wingspan and destroyer qualities who made college coaches tremble during his time at the University of South Florida, the Boston Celtics took a flyer on the big man, signing him to an Exhibit 10 contract, and they're now proud of how he has handled the spotlight:
“There seems to be someone in every group that knows who he is,” Scott Morrison, who coaches the Celtics' Summer League team, told Jay King of The Athletic. “I’ve kind of asked him about that, and he just kind of said he’s used to it. For the most part, I think people mean well, but I’ve been very impressed by that because most people would get annoyed and be grouchy or whatever. I know I would be. So it’s kind of one of those things where you just have to take the good with the bad. And, so far, from what I’ve seen, he handles the bad pretty well.”
Part of the allure is that he is one of three men (next to Manute Bol and Gheorghe Muresan) who measure at 7-foot-7 — the tallest to step on an NBA court. While Fall may not make Boston's final roster, most fans still just want a photo or a quick word with the big man:
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“The first thing I noticed was just coming through the airport with him,” said Morrison. “Obviously, in the NBA, you don’t usually go through the airports, but the amount of people who stopped him, chased him down, wanted to just talk to him, touch him, get a picture or whatever — and how he handled that was very impressive. Always smiling, not getting too upset about anything. And then having to squeeze himself into an airplane seat, I could see it would be easy to get irritated. And he handled that real well. So that was a nice thing to see. And then out here, I wasn’t really expecting quite as big of a following, but it’s fun. Like I told him, just enjoy it, but don’t lose sight of the reasons that he’s here, which is to make sure that these scouts and front-office people leave here thinking that he’s an NBA player.”
Fall has kept his focus on the game, despite of the constant attention he has drawn from fans in Las Vegas:
“It’s kind of been crazy,” Fall said. “It’s different. I feel really blessed to be in this position. I feel really fortunate for people to show that kind of love. But I just try to stay locked in.”
Most recently, the big dipper dropped 12 points in 10 minutes on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting night in an 89-72 rout of the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday.
