The Ultimate Sign for the Mavs

[Chiwas]

PODOLIANTSI, Ukraine (AP) -- His extraordinary height trapped Leonid Stadnik in a tiny Ukrainian village for years, but now the 8-foot-4 man is seeing his horizons expand to match his size.

Until this spring, the 33-year-old Stadnik had spent almost all his days here in Podoliantsi, a poor village in northwestern Ukraine.

As he grew, his life seemed to be shrinking. He had to stop working as a veterinarian on a cattle farm three years ago after his feet were frostbitten because he couldn't afford proper shoes. Living on a $30 monthly pension, he tried to fill his days by gardening and helping out at his mother's cramped house.

Then journalists, including The Associated Press, found out about him and one of the stories caught the notice of a German who claimed to be a distant relative and invited him for a visit. The German, who asked to be identified only as Volodymyr, came to pick up Stadnik in a van suitable for his sprawling frame.

The trip to Volodymyr's home near Baden Baden in southwestern Germany took a grueling 25 hours and, once there, Stadnik had to sleep on a billiard table. But, Stadnik says, it was worth every discomfort.

He got to sample frog legs in an elegant restaurant. He saw a roller coaster in an amusement park. "I saw so much in that month, as never before in my life," he says.

That included seeing himself in the swirl of attention, with German teenagers asking him for autographs and doctors seeking to examine him.

Stadnik, whose growth spurt started at age 14 after a brain operation apparently stimulated his pituitary gland, is still growing. There's no indication yet whether he might top the 8-foot-11 reached by Robert Wadlow of Alton, Illinois, the tallest man known in history who died in 1940.

Recent measurements show Stadnik is already 7 inches taller than Radhouane Charbib of Tunisia, listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the tallest living man.

Guinness isn't planning any change, at least for now.

"At the moment we still have the Tunisian guy as the record holder," Guinness spokeswoman Kate White said. "We have contacted Stadnik, but he seems like a very shy guy. He doesn't want us around. So we have to stick to what we have."

Article in CNN

[mavsman55]

Wow. Teach him how to shoot 3's and we're all set.

[EricaLubarsky]

He's way too old to teach him anything about basketball and he's also way too old for a body like that. Unprecedented size often falls apart incredibly fast.

He's interesting unrelated to basketball, though. I was hugely into Guinness world records.

[twelli]

just out of curiosity. how high is the rim of an NBA basket? high might hurt is head by just moving in the paint...

[mavsfanforever]

Chiwas is back.

[mavsman55]

Originally posted by: twelli
just out of curiosity. how high is the rim of an NBA basket? high might hurt is head by just moving in the paint...

I think it's 10 feet.

[mavsfanforever]

If there was no three second violation I would just have him, pavel and bradley guard the basket all the time.

[twelli]

'lay-ups' would become 'lay-downs' and Yao would be dwarfed, imagine...