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Home / Sport / Basketball

Basketball: Mystery surrounds teen myth Abiodun Adegoke after viral video

news.com.au
28 Feb, 2021 06:30 PM3 mins to read

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Abiodun Adegoke's social media posts have gone viral around the world. Photos / Instagram

Abiodun Adegoke's social media posts have gone viral around the world. Photos / Instagram

Abiodun Adegoke is 2.36m tall and pure mystery.

The Nigerian centre is blowing up around the world right now after a viral video showed off his insane basketball frame.

At 7ft 9inch, Adegoke, is already more than 7cm taller than the tallest players to ever play in the NBA. He is also a teenager — but that's where the mystery begins.

The prodigy became an instant online star when video of him working out in the gym with coaches during a youth talent development camp in Dubai left jaws dropping all over the world.

The video shows Adegoke, who even refers to himself as "Big Naija", moving with surprising agility for someone who can dunk with both feet on the ground.

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The video was shared by NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal recently — and it means Adegoke's life will never be the same again.

Not surprisingly, his hoop skills have been completely overshadowed by the sheer terror of his hight.

He shared a video to Instagram recently showing him dunking easily with both feet on the ground, looking like an optical illusion next to a teammate, claimed to measure a full 1.68m.

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View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Big Naija (@bignaija)

The teammate looks like an infant compared to the might of Adegoke. He is pure cheat code.

The video of Adegoke in the gym has attracted even more interest across American news websites.

However, the interest has come hand in hand with scepticism and intrigue about the NBA prospect's background.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Big Naija (@bignaija)

He remains a prospective college basketball talent, according to some reports, but is also reported to be a 21-year-old according to some unclear reports from his early teenage dates.

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Adegoke has repeatedly joked about the interest in his age, but has never been able to prove in public he is 18-years-old as has been claimed.

In 2016 a report from Nigeria claimed Adegoke was already 17-years-old and was 2.18m tall at the time. The report claims he was a student of a sports high school academy in Lagos and needed help to fund his tuition after leaving school for a brief period.

However, Adegoke has reportedly continued to claim he is still a teenager, having played in the MPAC Elite Youth League in Dubai this year.

Abiodun Adegoke in a Facebook profile. Photo / Facebook
Abiodun Adegoke in a Facebook profile. Photo / Facebook

He is still training with the MPAC Sports UAE system ad his next career move remains unclear.

If he does make it to play professional basketball in the United States he will become the joint-record holder with China's Sun Mingming, who ended up playing for the Harlem Globetrotters.

While he has been overlooked by American scouts thus far, Adegoke would create a new record as the tallest player to ever play in the NBA should he prove the doubters wrong and end up in the biggest basketball league on the planet.

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Yao Ming and Manute Bol currently share the record for the highest players ever seen in the NBA at 2.29m.

Adegoke would shatter that.

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