Seeing Igor Vovkovinskiy for the first time involves an instant renegotiation of perspective. Suddenly, Timberwolves 6-11 center Nikola Pekovic seems slight as he plods onto the court. Ten-foot-tall NBA hoops look like kiddie baskets, the Timberwolves dancers no taller than an elementary school dance team.
Vovkovinskiy is the tallest living American. He’s 7-8, and he wears a size 26 shoe. He’s also resident of Rochester, Minn., and a dedicated Timberwolves fan.
Vovkovinskiy, whom the Timberwolves invited to sit in a suite for Sunday’s matchup against Golden State, towered over the Warriors as they warmed up around him before the game. It was his first time on an NBA court and the first Timberwolves game he’s attended in years.
“Especially the last six, seven years … I’m just too tall to fit into normal seating,” Vovkovinskiy said. “It’s just so uncomfortable, and I make everyone else around me feel uncomfortable.”
So for him, a suite is a dream come true — rightfully so after the numerous medical issues and foot operations he’s faced in his 29 years. Vovkovinskiy was born in Ukraine and moved to the United States at age 6 to seek medical treatment for his extreme height. At the time, he was already 6-feet tall. Surgeons attempted to remove a tumor in his pituitary gland that was causing his body to release too much growth hormone, but they were never able to fully do so.
Vovkovinskiy has had several surgeries on those size-26 feet, and he hasn’t been able to purchase shoes that fit since he was a teenager. Now, he is waiting to undergo laser scans of his feet, a process that will allow him to finally have properly fitting shoes. He estimates that the scans and shoe construction will cost about $16,000 — as of Sunday, he’d raised more than $40,000 through his “Igor Needs Shoes” campaign. Although TODAY.com reported that Reebok had agreed to pay for the scans and shoes, Vovkovinskiy said he’s still unsure about the offer, but that he’ll get his shoes soon.
“We’re hoping somewhere in these next five, six weeks that hopefully one way or another, either through the money I’ve raised with the help of so many people or somehow, but I need shoes quickly,” Vovkovinskiy said.
The feet and shoe issues have been the main reason Vovkovinskiy has never been more than just a fan of basketball. Although he played in elementary school, he’s been unable to compete in the sport for which his height seems designed because he’s never had the shoes to play in. That might be discouraging, but Vovkovinskiy seems happy to remain a fan.
Even on the Target Center court, Vovkovinskiy said he wasn’t going to try to shoot a basket. Instead, he was looking forward to meeting with his favorite Timberwolves player, Kevin Love, whom he says he’s drawn to every time he watches the Timberwolves on television because he’s such a well-rounded player.
It might seem overwhelming, standing on an NBA court surrounded by dancers and media, by players who until Sunday were confined to Vovkovinskiy’s TV. But towering above everyone, Vovkovinskiy took it all in, and for him, Sunday became something memorable.
For the first time in years, basketball ceased to be yet another thing he’d grown too tall for.
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