Standing at a towering 7-foot-9, Oliver Rioux has been turning heads in the basketball world for years, due to his mind-blowing height that is truly rare.
Once labeled the tallest teenager in the world, the Canadian big man has become a viral sensation and a fascinating prospect to watch.
Beyond the Hype: Can Olivier Rioux Really Make the NBA?
But beyond the viral clips and highlight reels, there's a more complex question forming: can Rioux actually make it to the NBA?
After committing to the University of Florida, Rioux spent his redshirt season away from game action, focusing intensely on transforming his body.
He dedicated himself to building muscle, improving his athleticism, and developing the fundamental skills necessary to play high-level basketball.
It's a long-term project, and his path is unlike anything we've seen in recent years. As he continues to grow, both literally and figuratively, his journey offers a rare look into the challenges and expectations that come with being a once-in-a-generation outlier trying to prove he's more than just a headline.
Credit FIBA Media
The Harsh Reality of Modern Basketball for Olivier Rioux
But as inspiring as it sounds for someone of that height to try to make it to the NBA, we all know the trends in basketball and the challenges even more mobile centers face when they aren't mobile enough.
We must realistically analyze whether Rioux can compensate for some of the major flaws he has in modern basketball—not just in the NBA—due to his size, slow lateral movement, and other issues.
With his height, being taller than players like Manute Bol and Gheorghe Muresan, Rioux belongs to a very special category.
However, modern basketball is clearly moving in a direction that isn't very open to players built like these giants. The issues exist on both defense and offense, and we'll start by analyzing the defensive side.
Defensive Struggles: Drop Coverage Isn't Enough
The primary pick-and-roll defense that any team at any competition level would use with a giant like Rioux is deep drop coverage, which is almost nonexistent in modern basketball.
Drop coverage is still used by some slower centers like Jokic or Sengun, but the type of drop that Rioux would have to play is an even deeper one.
This creates a serious problem that hasn't been solved, and he would be targeted on every single possession, and I'm not just talking about the NBA here, but any professional basketball league, especially in today's era of constant mismatch hunting.
Even better defensive players than Rioux, who are far more mobile, are constantly being targeted because they struggle to perform well in certain schemes, such as switch defense.
So, with opposing big men who can stretch the floor and shoot threes in pick-and-pop actions, teams would easily force the switch.
Credit FIBA Media
We've seen that a million times in the NBA. Just look at how Tyrese Haliburton destroyed Jarrett Allen in those situations, and Allen is one of the best big-man defenders in the league.
Yet he was still hunted relentlessly.
So, it's safe to say that it would be impossible for Rioux to survive in any serious basketball league defensively.
If your primary coverage is deep drop and, beyond that, you're extremely slow and unable to move, rotate, or close out, then you simply can't play pro-level basketball, at least not in any kind of decent-minute role.
Too Slow for the Modern Pace
Basketball is faster than ever, and every year it continues to evolve at a rapid pace. Teams around the world are embracing the modern tendencies of pushing the ball and speeding up the game.
That alone makes it nearly impossible for a big man like Rioux to keep up, even before we get into half-court defense and his struggles in pick-and-roll coverage or rotations.
He wouldn't even be able to get back in transition to defend his man if the opposing team is playing fast.
And if you can't get back on defense, you're already a liability before the possession even reaches the half-court.
Can Offense Save Olivier Rioux?
Offensively, the situation is slightly better for Oliver Rioux, but only slightly. In theory, a player of his size could potentially compensate for defensive shortcomings by becoming a dominant force on the offensive glass.
His sheer height and length should make him a constant threat for offensive rebounds and easy second-chance points. However, in practice, things don't quite work that way.
Well-organized teams can neutralize that theoretical advantage through collective effort. In modern basketball, rebounding, especially on the offensive end, is about much more than just size.
It's about positioning, timing, quick reactions, and having fast, agile footwork to get inside leverage.
Unfortunately, due to the way Rioux is built, these are all things he lacks. His body simply doesn't allow for the speed, balance, or flexibility needed to compete at the highest level in those gritty, physical rebounding battles.
Credit FIBA Media
Take the recent FIBA U19 World Cup as a real-world example. Despite being one of the tallest players to ever appear in a FIBA event, Rioux only played around nine minutes per game and averaged just 0.4 offensive rebounds per contest.
That's a stunningly low number considering his physical advantages. It clearly shows that he's not dominating the glass in any meaningful way, even against teenagers, let alone grown professionals.
This matters because it eliminates the idea that he could carve out a role as a niche offensive rebounder who compensates for his defensive weaknesses.
His presence on the court actually hurt Team Canada in several stretches during that tournament, with the team consistently giving up easy baskets in transition or being exposed in pick-and-roll situations when he was on the floor.
The value he brought on offense—particularly through rebounding—simply didn't come close to making up for what was lost on defense.
So while the offensive side might seem a bit more promising on the surface, the deeper you look, the more it becomes clear that the same physical limitations that hurt Rioux on defense also limit his effectiveness on offense.
Without the quickness, reaction time, and coordination needed to turn his height into a true advantage, even basic contributions like crashing the glass become difficult to sustain at a high level.
No Shooting, No Spacing, No Role
Another issue is that Rioux does not shoot threes, which means he can't stretch the floor—a crucial skill in today's game.
This lack of shooting significantly affects spacing, as it limits what a team can do offensively when he's on the court.
Because of that, his natural offensive role becomes very restricted, usually placing him in the dunker spot, where he simply waits for dump-off passes or put-back opportunities.
Credit FIBA Media
The Verdict
So, no matter how you look at it, Rioux is highly unlikely to play or have a real impact in any serious professional basketball league across the globe.
And this isn't something he should be criticized for; it's just a reflection of how the game has evolved.
Everyone likes to talk about how Shaquille O'Neal would still dominate in today's era, and while I agree with that offensively, it's fair to ask how the version of Shaq from his Lakers days would hold up defensively.
He couldn't move laterally, was almost always planted in deep drop coverage, and would get exposed in modern offensive schemes.
The game evolves, so do the players, strategies, and overall demands—and in today's basketball world, there simply isn't a place for a 7-foot-9 player to have a serious role. That's just the reality.
Vukašin Nedeljković
Vukašin played basketball competitively in his youth, and now contributes to Synergy Sports Technology and Sportradar regarding basketball analysis. He also has experience working as a journalist in Serbia and is passionate about writing basketball articles mainly focused on basketball X's and O's.
About author
Subscribe to BN+ and get access to exclusive content.