NBA players average 6’7” (200.7cm) league-wide for the 2025-26 season. That average varies a lot by position: point guards average 6’3” (190.5cm), while centres average 6’11” (210.8cm), a gap of nearly 8 inches (20.3cm) between the shortest and tallest position on average.
Basketball is one of the few sports where height by playing position is tracked closely and publicly, since it correlates so strongly with role on court. This page uses one source’s 2025-26 season figures throughout, so every position uses the same measurement basis.
Average height by position, 2025-26 season
| Position | Height (ft/in) | Height (cm) |
|---|---|---|
| Point guard | 6’3” | 190.5cm |
| Shooting guard | 6’4” | 193.0cm |
| Small forward | 6’7” | 200.7cm |
| Power forward | 6’8.5” | 204.5cm |
| Centre | 6’11” | 210.8cm |
| League average (all positions) | 6’7” | 200.7cm |
Small forward and the league-wide average land on the same figure, 6’7” (200.7cm), by coincidence of this season’s roster mix rather than any rule linking the two.
| Name | Height |
|---|---|
| Point guard (190.5cm) | 190.5 cm |
| Shooting guard (193cm) | 193 cm |
| Small forward (200.7cm) | 200.7 cm |
| Power forward (204.5cm) | 204.5 cm |
| Centre (210.8cm) | 210.8 cm |
How NBA heights compare to the general population
Every NBA position, even the shortest one, sits well above general adult male height averages. That’s worth putting in concrete numbers rather than leaving as a vague impression.
| Reference point | Height | Point guard (190.5cm) is taller by |
|---|---|---|
| US average adult male | 176.9cm | 13.6cm |
| 69-country dataset average (men) | 174.9cm | 15.6cm |
| Point guard (NBA average) | 190.5cm | — |
| Centre (NBA average) | 210.8cm | 33.9-35.9cm taller than the general averages above |
Point guard is the position basketball fans often describe as “short” for the NBA. Against general population data, it’s still roughly 13-16cm above average adult male height, depending which comparison figure is used.
Comparing positions directly
Looking at the gap between adjacent positions, rather than each one against the league average, shows where the biggest jumps happen. The table below uses the same 2025-26 season figures as above.
| Position pair | Height gap |
|---|---|
| Point guard → shooting guard | 2.5cm |
| Shooting guard → small forward | 7.7cm |
| Small forward → power forward | 3.8cm |
| Power forward → centre | 6.3cm |
The largest single jump sits between shooting guard and small forward, at 7.7cm. Point guard and shooting guard, by contrast, are relatively close together, at just 2.5cm apart on average.
Why the gap between positions is so large
Basketball positions map closely onto physical role. Centres and power forwards typically play closest to the basket, where height and reach directly help with rebounding, shot-blocking and finishing close-range shots.
Point guards and shooting guards, by contrast, more often prioritise speed, ball-handling and outside shooting. Extreme height carries less of a direct advantage in those roles, and can even work against agility in some cases.
That’s a general pattern, not a rule. Individual players at every position vary a great deal, and plenty of shorter centres or taller point guards have had successful NBA careers outside these season averages.
Team strategy also plays a role in how positions are used. Some teams lean on taller, longer lineups regardless of nominal position; others prioritise speed and shooting across the board. Both approaches can shift a team’s own average away from the league-wide figures shown here, without changing the underlying league averages much.
A note on how these averages shift over time
NBA average heights by position aren’t fixed. They shift slightly from season to season as rosters change, players retire, and new players enter the league. The figures on this page are specific to the 2025-26 season, as tracked by TheHoopsGeek.
Longer-term trends can move further still. Average NBA height overall has shifted at different points across the league’s history, reflecting changes in playing style, scouting and the pool of players entering the league. This page doesn’t attempt to cover that full historical trend — only the current season’s snapshot by position.
Method and sources
The position-by-position and league-wide averages come from TheHoopsGeek’s tracking of NBA roster height data for the 2025-26 season, cited below. These are stated as season averages, not measurements of every individual player, and reflect the specific roster composition of that season.
The general population comparison figures — 176.9cm (US average adult male) and 174.9cm (this site’s 69-country dataset average for men) — are drawn from the NCD-RisC dataset already used elsewhere on this site, cited below. The “taller by” column subtracts each general population figure from the point guard average (190.5cm) using simple arithmetic.
These are two different kinds of average: one from a specific professional roster, one from broader population data. Comparing them shows scale, not a claim that either dataset measures the same underlying population.
See any of these heights side by side on the comparison board, or read this site’s tallest people in recorded history article for figures at the very top end of human height.