Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reports that three-year NBA veteran Tacko Fall is signing a one-year deal with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association.
Three-year NBA veteran Tacko Fall is signing a one-year deal in the Chinese Basketball Association with Xinjiang, per sources. The 7-foot-6 center played for Boston and Cleveland and now departs to play abroad.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 25, 2022
Before this news, Fall was the tallest current player in the NBA at 7-foot-6.
Fall — who is from Senegal and moved to the United States as a 16-year-old — starred for the UCF Knights in college basketball and received a lot of attention during the 2019 NCAA Tournament.
Later that year, Fall signed as an undrafted free agent with the Boston Celtics. He stayed with the Celtics into 2021, and showed off his shot-blocking abilities in the 2020-21 campaign, averaging 1.1 blocks per game.
In Sept. 2021, Fall signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers and went on to play 11 games for the Cavs in the 2021-22 season. He spent most of the season in the NBA G League, where he was extremely productive, averaging 14.9 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 2.7 blocks for the Cleveland Charge.
Most recently, Fall played in the NBA Summer League for the Utah Jazz.
Tacko Fall led the Jazz in scoring and rebounding, while rejecting 3 shots in the @utahjazz win!@tackofall99: 12 PTS, 15 REB, 3 BLK pic.twitter.com/BYV7Pq6ydl
— NBA (@NBA) July 12, 2022
Fall, 26, has put his tantalizing abilities on display in the G League and Summer League, and it’s easy to see him putting up huge numbers in the Chinese Basketball Association. If he can continue to develop his game and shine in China, maybe he’ll be back in the NBA down the road.