This Guy Would Make An Excellent Baller

Sometimes brain operations go wrong in a good way. Take Leonid Stadnyk here, whose ridiculous growth spurt at age 14 was caused by accidental stimulation of his pituitary gland during an op.

He did stop growing eventually, but only after he'd become the tallest man alive at 8 foot 5 inches. The Ukrainian giant now stands at a height just 6 inches below the the tallest man ever, though his parents are both shorties at 5'8 and 5' respectively.

The story goes that Stadnyk rode his bike to work until he became to big for it and had to take the bus... which he also grew too big for and had to resort to his family's horse and cart.  Eventually he was forced to give up his job as a vet after he couldn't afford (or find probably) shoes  that fit his feet and therefore he ended up with frostbite.

I don't know if Stadnyk has ever played ball before but I'm sure the Lakers will be on the phone any day now to offer him a tryout.

[Leonid Stadnyk Wiki]