Shawn Bradley is, and always has been, more than just astonishingly tall. An admirable citizen both on and off the court, it was hard not to appreciate the affable giant as he patrolled the paint like an extraterrestrial on a solo mission to conquer mankind, but the man was not without his critics.

Otherwordly height, community assistance and Space Jam cameo appearances aside, in a league with such an urban-rooted identity, the German-born American Mormon stood out like… well, like a 7′6″ guy. Simply put, Shawn Bradley was unlike anything basketball fans had ever seen before and thus dutifully filled the role of NBA punchline for over a decade. To some he was an elbow-wielding, salary-eating bust with a penchant for getting dunked on, but to so many more he was a prime example of what can happen when one proudly lives their life with the cards they’re dealt.

On top of making grown men look like overly-muscular children upon being drafted in 1993 up until the day he called it quits in 2004, Bradley boasted incredible athleticism (foot speed, coordination, explosiveness and surprising agility) for a person even close to his size and as a result will go down as one of the greatest shot blockers in NBA history.Stop for a second, recall all the grief Bradley took over the course of his career from sports magazines, players looking to make their own personal statements and even broadcasters on national TV. Now think about it; if only the slightest percentile of basketball players ever set foot on an NBA court and even less make a career out of it, it makes it kind of hard to justify the jokes now synonymous with the man’s name, doesn’t it?

To say that Bradley was an all-star caliber player during his stints with the Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Nets and Dallas Mavericks would be an overstatement, but as far as niche players are concerned, can you name even a handful who specialized in particular areas as well as the man who averaged 3.0, 3.3, 3.6, 3.4, 3.3 and 3.2 blocks per game over the first six years of his career? Probably not.

During the 1996-97 campaign, Bradley averaged a more-than-respectful 13.2 points per game to go along with 8.4 rebounds and the aforementioned 3.4 blocks. In 2001-02 he even managed to connect on over 92% of his free-throws, completely debunking the myth that bigger players are at a disadvantage at the line.

It’s been over three years since Bradley set foot on an NBA court, but if one thing is clear, it’s that his name will forever live amongst the basketball community in jest; not nearly indicative of the person and player he is or was. But don’t think Shawn Bradley is beating himself up over it, when you’re 7′6″ you get used to people not exactly seeing the full picture.

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Photo Credit: Icon Sports Media