famous people with big feet

1. 

   Abraham Lincoln

   US president · United States

   Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. Born in Kentucky in 1809, he worked as a lawyer and became the first Republican president. He led the Union through the Civil War and issued the Emancipation Proclamation.

   • Shoemaker Johnston & Murphy, which has handcrafted a custom pair for every US president from Millard Fillmore to Joe Biden, includes Lincoln's shoes in its Presidential Footwear exhibit. The company says he had the largest feet of any US president. FOX 5 DC
   • The restored Ford's Theatre Museum in Washington displays his square-toed goatskin boots, which reached up to his shins and are worn down at the heels. History News Network

   Shoe sizes in the 1860s were not the same as today's.

   “He wore a size 14.” · FOX 5 DC, 14 Jan 2025

   US 14
2. 

   Michael Phelps

   Swimming (Olympics) · USA · 193 cm

   Michael Phelps is an American swimmer who competed at five Olympic Games, from Sydney 2000 to Rio 2016, and won 28 medals, the most by any male Olympian according to Guinness World Records. Twenty-three of those medals were gold, including eight at Beijing 2008. He now gives back to the sport through coaching and the Michael Phelps Foundation.

   • A 2004 Baltimore Sun profile of the teenage Phelps said his big feet act like giant flippers in the water. The Baltimore Sun
   • The same profile reported that he was double-jointed in his elbows, knees and ankles, which let him reach positions few other swimmers can. The Baltimore Sun

   “His shoe size is 14, and those feet act like giant flippers.” · The Baltimore Sun, 9 Mar 2004

   US 14

1. 

   Dwayne Johnson

   Actor · United States

   Dwayne Johnson is an actor and former wrestler who performed in WWE as The Rock. After debuting at the 1996 Survivor Series, he won eight WWE Championships. He went on to star in the Jumanji and Fast & Furious film series, and Forbes named him the world's highest-paid actor in 2019.

   • Before his Under Armour training shoe went on sale in early 2017, he said he had trained in it for a year to perfect it. The high top carries his Brahma Bull tattoo on the back. Fortune
   • Fellow Under Armour athlete Stephen Curry sent him a pair of Curry Lux shoes before they were released, and Johnson thanked him publicly. Fortune

   He said it while thanking Stephen Curry for a gifted pair of shoes.

   “I appreciated these size fifteens brother. They look dope.” · Fortune, 8 Aug 2016

   US 15
2. 

   Will Ferrell

   Actor and comedian · United States

   Will Ferrell is an American comic actor who made his name over seven seasons on Saturday Night Live, most notably playing President George W. Bush. He went on to star in films including Elf (2003), Old School, Talladega Nights and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. In 2011 he received the Kennedy Center's Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

   • As a teenager at University High School in Irvine, California, Ferrell wore Adidas rather than Air Jordans, because he says he has a very narrow, skinny foot. OutKick
   • When Complex gave him a pair of Ron Burgundy-inspired Nike SB Dunk Lows in 2023, they were a size 11.5, far too small for him, so he joked about selling them instead. OutKick

   Reported after his Complex sneaker shopping episode, where a gifted size 11.5 pair was too small.

   “Ferrell wears size 15 shoes” · OutKick, 11 Dec 2023

   US 15

1. 

   Ben Simmons

   Basketball (NBA) · Australia

   Ben Simmons is a Melbourne-born basketballer who was the No. 1 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. He was named NBA Rookie of the Year in 2018 with the Philadelphia 76ers and became a three-time All-Star. He later played for the Brooklyn Nets and the LA Clippers.

   • Simmons fractured the fifth metatarsal bone in his right foot before his first NBA season, and he sat out all of 2016-17. NBA.com
   • The Nike Hyperdunk X sneakers he wore in Game 6 of the 2019 Eastern Conference semifinals, a 112-101 win over Toronto, went to auction at Sotheby's. Sotheby's

   “NIKE, NIKE HYPERDUNK X, SIZE 16” · Sotheby's, 2024

   US 16
2. KC

   Kyle Chalmers

   Swimming · Australia · 194 cm

   Kyle Chalmers is an Australian sprint freestyle swimmer from Port Lincoln, South Australia. At 18 he won the 100m freestyle at the Rio 2016 Olympics, then took silver in the same event at Tokyo and Paris. He won the 100m freestyle world title in 2023 and has nine Olympic medals, equal with Ian Thorpe.

   • As a boy in Port Lincoln he entered his school swimming carnival for fun. His feet were already size 11 at age 11, and ESPN said they powered him to victory, which set his swimming career in motion. ESPN
   • Before the Paris 2024 Olympics he teamed up with Australian shoe company Athletikan on his own signature sneaker, with a KC logo for King Kyle. Busselton-Dunsborough Times

   Reported as size 15 when he was 18. Australian men's sizes follow UK sizing, so this is about US 16.

   “Kyle Chalmers will plonk his size 15 "flippers" on the blocks” · Pursuit, University of Melbourne (Peter Hanlon), 3 Aug 2016

   ≈ US 16
3. 

   LeBron James

   Basketball (NBA) · USA

   LeBron James, from Akron, Ohio, was the first overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft and joined his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers. He has won four NBA championships with Miami, Cleveland and the Los Angeles Lakers, plus four MVP awards and Olympic gold. In February 2023 he became the NBA's all-time leading scorer.

   • His Nike LeBron 11 (2013) gave him fit and comfort problems, so he wore it in only 35 of 97 games while Nike remodelled his pair behind the scenes. ESPN
   • In 2023 he tore a tendon in his right foot. Two doctors advised surgery, but a specialist he called 'the LeBron James of feet' told him not to have it, and he was back after four weeks. ESPN

   Many sites say 15. ESPN mentions Nike's size 16 version of his shoe.

   “revamp and remodel his Size 16 version” · ESPN, 13 Sept 2018

   US 16

1. 

   Brittney Griner

   Basketball (WNBA) · USA · 203 cm

   Brittney Griner is an American centre who starred at Baylor University before joining the Phoenix Mercury. She set a WNBA record with 129 blocks in the 2014 regular season, the year the Mercury swept Chicago for the title. She has won Olympic gold with Team USA at Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024.

   • In her 2015 ESPN Body Issue interview, Griner said she thinks her feet are bigger than Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's. ESPN
   • At a Team USA training camp in 2016 she posted a photo of her Nike Kobe sneakers filling an entire suitcase, captioned "Big Feet Problem!" ESPN

   She wears men's shoes.

   “They are size 17 men's.” · ESPN (ESPN The Magazine Body Issue), 6 July 2015

   US 17
2. 

   Giannis Antetokounmpo

   Basketball (NBA) · Greece

   Giannis Antetokounmpo is a Greek basketballer who learned the game in Athens and was the 15th pick in the 2013 NBA Draft. He won back-to-back NBA MVP awards in 2019 and 2020. In 2021 he scored 50 points in the deciding game of the Finals, winning Milwaukee its first title since 1971 and the Finals MVP award.

   • As teenagers in Athens, Giannis and his brother Thanasis shared one red-and-white pair of Nike Kobe 4s, even though their feet were different sizes. Andscape
   • Since 2019 he has headlined his own Nike Zoom Freak line, which made him the first international player to get a signature basketball shoe line from Nike. Andscape

   A 2019 report said size 16. Later reports say 17.

   “Giannis Antetokounmpo, who wears a size 17” · Andscape, 26 July 2024

   US 17

1. 

   Alonzo Mourning

   Basketball (NBA) · USA

   Alonzo Mourning is an American former NBA center who played at Georgetown and went second overall to the Charlotte Hornets in the 1992 draft. With the Miami Heat he was twice named Defensive Player of the Year. After a diagnosis of kidney disease, he returned to win the 2006 NBA championship, and he entered the Hall of Fame in 2014.

   • He had two Nike signature shoes, in 1997 and 1998, and wore a size 18 in both. Andscape
   • Nike brought back his 1997 Air Alonzo as one-off player exclusive pairs late in his career, and he wore them in his final season and final NBA game. Complex

   “Alonzo Mourning, who wore an 18 in his two Nike signatures” · Andscape, 26 July 2024

   US 18
2. 

   Andrew Bogut

   Basketball (NBA) · Australia · 213 cm

   Andrew Bogut is a Melbourne-born centre who was named college player of the year at Utah before the Milwaukee Bucks took him first overall in the 2005 NBA Draft. He won an NBA championship with the Golden State Warriors in 2015, was NBL MVP with the Sydney Kings in 2019, and played at three Olympics.

   • Asked in 2015 whether his shoes alone would fill a suitcase on NBA road trips, he said team staff looked after his basketball shoes because they took up so much space. Yahoo

   “a steady supply of size 18 shoes” · Yahoo, 4 Mar 2015

   US 18
3. 

   Ian Thorpe

   Swimming · Australia · 193 cm

   Ian Thorpe is a Sydney-born swimmer who won the 1998 world 400m freestyle title in Perth at 15, becoming the youngest world champion in history. He won five Olympic gold medals at Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004, including the 200m freestyle in Athens, billed as the race of the century. The AOC gave him its Order of Merit in 2018.

   • Before Sydney 2000, Newsweek counted his flipper-like feet as part of his natural gift, together with a huge stroke and a six-beat kick once thought too tiring for anyone but sprinters. Newsweek
   • In October 1999, less than a year before the Sydney Olympics, he trained in a fibreglass cast after chipping a bone in his left ankle in a fall while jogging. Swimming World

   Reported as size 17. Australian men's sizes follow UK sizing, so this is about US 18.

   “an arm span of 190cm and size 17 feet” · Australian Olympic Committee

   ≈ US 18
4. 

   Kevin Durant

   Basketball (NBA) · USA

   Kevin Durant is an American basketballer who won two NBA championships and two Finals MVP awards with the Golden State Warriors. He has also won a league MVP award, Rookie of the Year and four NBA scoring titles. In 2024 he became the first player in men's basketball to win four Olympic gold medals.

   • In Game 7 of the Nets' 2021 second-round series against Milwaukee, his late jump shot counted for two points, not three, because his foot was on the three-point line. The Bucks won in overtime, 115-111. CBS Sports
   • Durant wears a size 18 shoe on a size 17 foot. He said in 2018 that his shoes feel like slippers and sometimes come off, but he can slip them back on and keep playing. CBS Sports

   “Durant wears a size 18 shoe” · CBS Sports, 20 June 2021

   US 18
5. 

   Peter Mayhew

   Actor · United Kingdom · 221 cm

   Peter Mayhew was an English-born actor who played Chewbacca in the original Star Wars trilogy and returned to the role in Revenge of the Sith (2005) and The Force Awakens (2015). Standing 7 ft 3 in, he was working as a hospital porter in London when George Lucas cast him. He died in 2019, aged 74.

   • His screen career began with a newspaper feature on men with large feet. Producer Charles Schneer saw it and cast him as the minotaur in Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, and Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz called soon after. The Guardian
   • The reporter behind that feature suggested he contact the Guinness Book of Records, though his feet were not record-breaking. The Guardian

   Reported as UK 17H, which the source puts at about US 18.

   “He wore a 17H shoe in UK sizes” · SlashFilm, 1 Oct 2023

   ≈ US 18
6. 

   Will Skelton

   Rugby union (lock) · Australia · 203 cm

   Will Skelton is a Wallabies lock, born in Auckland and schooled in Sydney, who made his Test debut against France in 2014 after starting with the Waratahs. In Europe he has won four Champions Cup titles, two with Saracens and two with La Rochelle. Eddie Jones named him Wallabies captain for the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

   • Asics made him a special rugby boot in a size 19, although he says he is really a size 18. He also says his two younger brothers have bigger feet than he does. RugbyPass
   • A fractured foot kept him out of most of the 2012 season, shortly before the Waratahs signed him. Rugby Australia

   He said 53 or 54 in European sizes, which is about US 18.

   “I think it like 53 or 54 in European sizes.” · RugbyPass, 9 Apr 2022

   ≈ US 18
7. 

   Yao Ming

   Basketball (NBA) · China · 229 cm

   Yao Ming is a Shanghai-born centre who led the Shanghai Sharks to the 2002 Chinese Basketball Association title, then joined the Houston Rockets as that year's No. 1 draft pick. He was an eight-time NBA All-Star and entered the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016. From 2017 to 2023 he headed China's national basketball league.

   • In 2003, after his Nike endorsement deal expired, Yao signed a multiyear deal with Reebok that included his own signature line of shoes and clothing. ESPN
   • Foot injuries ended his playing career. He broke his left foot in the 2009 playoffs, and a third stress fracture in that foot led him to retire in July 2011. ESPN

   “Yao Ming is changing his size 18 shoes.” · ESPN (news services), 23 Oct 2003

   US 18

1. 

   Aaron Sandilands

   Australian rules football (ruckman) · Australia · 211 cm

   Aaron Sandilands is a former Fremantle ruckman who stood 211 cm and played 18 AFL seasons before retiring at the end of 2019. When he retired he held the AFL career record for hitouts. He earned four All-Australian jumpers and won two Doig Medals.

   • When he damaged a tendon in his left big toe in May 2011, none of Fremantle's five moonboots fitted his foot, so he had to see a manufacturer for one big enough. AFL.com.au
   • After turf toe injuries in 2011 and 2012, he played with plates fitted in his boots, which he said would stay there for good. Fremantle FC

   Reported as size 18 by his Australian club. Australian men's sizes follow UK sizing, so this is about US 19.

   “Sandi to hang up the size 18s” · Fremantle Football Club, 13 Aug 2019

   ≈ US 19
2. MB

   Mathu-Andrew Budge

   Guinness record holder · United Kingdom · 209.7 cm

   Mathu-Andrew Budge, from the UK, holds two Guinness World Records titles: largest hands on a teenager and largest feet on a teenager (male). Both records were measured in London on 13 February 2018. Guinness reported his height as 209.68 cm (6 ft 10.5 in).

   • Guinness measured his left foot at 32.95 cm and his right foot at 32.85 cm on the day he set the record. Guinness World Records
   • Guinness said his UK size 18 shoes are almost double the national average. Guinness World Records

   Guinness reports UK size 18. Measured as a teenager.

   Guinness World Records, 11 Jan 2019

   ≈ US 19
3. SM

   Sun Mingming

   Basketball giant · China · 236.2 cm

   Sun Mingming grew up in the small village of Bayan in northern China and played for a Chinese junior team before moving to the United States in 2005 to chase an NBA career. Standing 7 ft 9 in, he joined the ABA's Maryland Nighthawks in 2007 after treatment for a pituitary tumour, and appeared in the film Rush Hour 3.

   • His toes were curled and gnarled, partly because he arrived in America wearing shoes three sizes too small. The Philadelphia Inquirer
   • In 2007 his feet were often covered in blisters after games and practice, and the Philadelphia Inquirer linked some of his slow movement on court to his feet. The Philadelphia Inquirer

   NPR (Morning Edition), 1 Feb 2007

   US 19

1. 

   Boban Marjanovic

   Basketball (NBA, now Europe) · Serbia · 221 cm

   Boban Marjanović is a Serbian centre who began in the Adriatic League and EuroLeague before joining the San Antonio Spurs in 2015. Over nine NBA seasons with six teams, his gentle-giant persona made him a fan favourite. He had a big part in the film John Wick 3, and in 2024 agreed to return to Europe with Fenerbahçe.

   • In 2018, while he played for the Clippers, a SoulCycle studio had no shoes in his size, so he could not join the class. Teammate Tobias Harris shared the moment on Instagram. Business Insider

   “listed Wembanyama's shoe size as 20, tying him with five fellow players” · Andscape, 26 July 2024

   US 20
2. 

   Brook Lopez

   Basketball (NBA) · USA

   Brook Lopez is an American centre who played college basketball at Stanford and began his NBA career with the New Jersey Nets. He made the 2013 All-Star team and became the Nets' all-time leading scorer. With Milwaukee he turned into a three-point shooter nicknamed Splash Mountain and helped win the 2021 NBA championship.

   • In his rookie season in 2008, the Globe and Mail's Michael Grange wrote that Lopez had the biggest feet he had ever seen, and that they looked twice as big as other players' size 15s and 16s. ESPN
   • Lopez broke his right foot just before the 2011-12 season and again in December 2013. In the January 2014 surgery, doctors also repositioned another bone so his foot would bear weight more evenly. CBS News

   From a 2008 report. A 2023-24 league list did not put him at 20.

   “they are reported to be size 20” · ESPN (TrueHoop), 25 Nov 2008

   US 20
3. 

   Gheorghe Muresan

   Basketball (NBA) · Romania · 231 cm

   Gheorghe Muresan is a Romanian former NBA center who, at 7 ft 7 in, is tied with Manute Bol as the tallest player in league history. Drafted by the Washington Bullets in 1993, he won the NBA Most Improved Player award in 1996. He later played for the New Jersey Nets and starred with Billy Crystal in the film My Giant.

   • A 1997 Deseret News report said he was so tall he could grab the rim without leaving his feet. Deseret News
   • A pinched nerve in his lower back was first misdiagnosed as a sprained tendon in his right ankle. In 1999, after surgery, he still could not stand on his toes and ran flat footed. ESPN

   “He wore a size 20 shoe” · Deseret News, 4 Feb 1997

   US 20
4. 

   Ivica Zubac

   Basketball (NBA) · Croatia

   Ivica Zubac is a Croatian centre who was picked 32nd overall by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2016 NBA Draft. The Clippers acquired him in February 2019, and he made the NBA All-Defensive Second Team in 2024-25. In February 2026 he was traded to the Indiana Pacers.

   • In the NBA's official 2023-24 list of player shoe sizes, he was one of several players tied for the biggest feet in the league, alongside Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns. Andscape

   “listed Wembanyama's shoe size as 20, tying him with five fellow players” · Andscape, 26 July 2024

   US 20
5. 

   Karl-Anthony Towns

   Basketball (NBA) · USA (plays internationally for Dominican Republic)

   Karl-Anthony Towns is a centre who joined the Minnesota Timberwolves as the No. 1 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft and became a four-time All-Star there. Traded to the New York Knicks in 2024, he helped them win the 2026 NBA championship, the club's first title since 1973. Internationally he plays for the Dominican Republic.

   • When Nike's Statement jerseys came out in November 2017, he wore two pairs of size 20 player-exclusive sneakers, one in volt green to match Minnesota's newest colour. ESPN

   “listed Wembanyama's shoe size as 20, tying him with five fellow players” · Andscape, 26 July 2024

   US 20
6. 

   Olivier Rioux

   Guinness record holder, basketball · Canada · 236.2 cm

   Olivier Rioux is a basketball centre from Quebec, Canada. In 2021 Guinness World Records confirmed him as the world's tallest teenager (male), at 226.9 cm when he was 15. Now 7-foot-9, he became the tallest person to play college basketball while at Florida, then signed with UC Irvine in April 2026.

   First reported at age 13, and again in 2024.

   Olympics.com (International Olympic Committee), 2 May 2019

   US 20
7. 

   Robin Lopez

   Basketball (NBA) · USA

   Robin Lopez is an American center who played two seasons at Stanford with his twin brother, Brook, before the Phoenix Suns drafted him 15th overall in 2008. He went on to play 16 NBA seasons for nine teams, including the Portland Trail Blazers, Chicago Bulls and Milwaukee Bucks.

   • He customises sneakers himself. For the 2018 NBA Talent Contest he decorated a pair of adidas Dame 4s with cartoons and a Los Angeles skyline. Nice Kicks

   “listed Wembanyama's shoe size as 20, tying him with five fellow players” · Andscape, 26 July 2024

   US 20
8. 

   Rudy Gobert

   Basketball (NBA) · France

   Rudy Gobert is a French centre and three-time NBA All-Star. He was named NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2024. His fourth award, the first for a Minnesota Timberwolves player, tied the record shared by Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace.

   • In the NBA's official 2023-24 list of player shoe sizes, he was one of several players tied for the biggest feet in the league, alongside Ivica Zubac and Karl-Anthony Towns. Andscape

   “listed Wembanyama's shoe size as 20, tying him with five fellow players” · Andscape, 26 July 2024

   US 20
9. 

   Victor Wembanyama

   Basketball (NBA) · France · 224 cm

   Victor Wembanyama is a French basketball player who joined the San Antonio Spurs as the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. He was the unanimous 2024 Rookie of the Year after leading the league with 3.6 blocks a game, and won Olympic silver with France at Paris 2024. In 2026 he reached the NBA Finals with the Spurs.

   • His feet kept growing during his rookie season. Between October 2023 and February 2024 he laced up, or at least received, sneakers in five different sizes. Andscape
   • For the Paris 2024 Olympics, Nike made him a spaceship-like concept shoe in size 21 and put it on display at the Centre Pompidou. Andscape

   “the Spurs listed Wembanyama's shoe size as 20” · Andscape, 26 July 2024

   US 20

1. LM

   Lars Motza

   Guinness record holder · Germany

   Lars Motza is from Germany. Guinness World Records confirmed in 2019 that he had the largest feet on a teenager (male), measured on 19 November 2018 when he was 16. He took the title from Britain's Mathu-Andrew Budge, and his record featured in the Guinness World Records 2020 book.

   • Guinness measured his left foot at 35.05 cm and his right at 34.98 cm, which it put at a European size 57. Guinness World Records
   • He told Guinness that German shops had no shoes in his size, so custom-made shoes were his only option. Guinness World Records

   Measured as a teenager in 2018.

   Guinness World Records, 31 July 2019

   US 21
2. BT

   Brahim Takioullah

   Guinness record holder · Morocco · 246 cm

   Brahim Takioullah is a Moroccan man whom Guinness World Records confirmed in 2011 as having the world's largest feet. He was diagnosed with acromegaly, a pituitary gland disorder that causes excess growth hormone, and finished university studies in geography. Guinness now lists him as the tallest actor ever (male), at 246.3 cm.

   • No shop has ever stocked his European size 58, so his shoes must be made to measure. One cobbler quoted him 3,500 euros to make him some shoes. Guinness World Records
   • In 2013 he and Jyoti Amge, the world's shortest woman, launched a Guinness challenge to build the largest online photo album of feet. Guinness World Records

   Guinness reports European size 58.

   Guinness World Records, 12 Oct 2011

   ≈ US 21.5
3. AC

   Alam Channa

   Historical giant, former Guinness record holder · Pakistan · 231.7 cm

   Mohammad Alam Channa was born in 1953 in Sehwan, in Pakistan's Sindh province, and worked at the shrine of the Sufi saint Lal Shahbaz Qalandar. After touring with a circus, he was recognised by Guinness World Records as the world's tallest man from 1990 to 1998, at 231.7 cm (7 ft 7.2 in). He died in New York in 1998.

   • His shoes had to be specially made to fit him, which added to the strain on his family's already stretched resources. ARY News

   The size is for sandals, and the source does not say which system.

   Tampa Bay Times (Kit Troyer), 17 June 1994

   US 22
4. AL

   Alton Lister

   Sport history, NBA centre · USA

   Alton Lister is a centre from Dallas who starred at Arizona State and was chosen for the 1980 US Olympic team, which missed the Moscow Games because of the American boycott. The Milwaukee Bucks drafted him 21st overall in 1981, the start of a long NBA career. Arizona State later honoured his No. 53 jersey.

   • When Bob Lanier retired in 1984, he joked that he went only because the Bucks had finally found, in Lister, someone who could literally fill his size 22 sneakers. NBA.com

   NBA.com, 14 Sept 2021

   US 22
5. 

   Big Show (Paul Wight)

   Professional wrestling (WWE, WCW, AEW) · USA · 213 cm

   Paul Wight is a seven-foot American wrestler who made his in-ring debut in WCW in 1995 and beat Hulk Hogan for the WCW World Championship. As Big Show in WWE from 1999, he won the WWE, World Heavyweight and ECW world titles. He signed a long-term contract with AEW in 2021.

   • WWE billed his shoes as size 22 in an EEEEE width, on the same profile that listed his chest at 64 inches. WWE
   • A 2016 Philippine Star profile said his feet are tucked inside made-to-order size 22 shoes. The Philippine Star

   WWE describes this size in the past tense, from early in his career.

   “wore a 22 EEEEE size shoe” · WWE

   US 22
6. 

   Bob Lanier

   Basketball (NBA) · USA · 211 cm

   Bob Lanier was an American center who led St. Bonaventure to the 1970 Final Four and was the No. 1 pick in that year's NBA draft. In 14 seasons with the Detroit Pistons and Milwaukee Bucks he made eight All-Star teams and was 1974 All-Star Game MVP. He entered the Hall of Fame in 1992 and died in 2022.

   • His bronzed sneakers went on display at the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame before he was inducted in 1992. FOX 2 Detroit
   • When he retired in 1984, he joked it was time to go because the Bucks had finally found someone to fill his shoes, 7-footer Alton Lister. NBA.com

   “Considering Lanier wore size 22s” · Detroit Pistons (NBA.com), 15 Jan 2008

   US 22
7. 

   Dikembe Mutombo

   Basketball (NBA) · DR Congo

   Dikembe Mutombo was a 7 ft 2 in centre from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who played at Georgetown and then 18 NBA seasons. An eight-time All-Star and four-time Defensive Player of the Year, he was known for wagging his finger after blocks. He entered the Hall of Fame in 2015 and died in 2024, aged 58.

   • After his All-Star rookie season, adidas gave him his own signature shoe, the adidas Mutombo, with a print on the upper that paid tribute to his African roots. Complex
   • A signed, custom-sized pair of Nike Air Team Max shoes he wore for the Houston Rockets in 2007, the year he passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for second on the all-time blocks list, was offered for sale through Sotheby's. Sotheby's

   “a fresh pair of size 22s” · Complex, 22 Aug 2013

   US 22
8. 

   Shaquille O'Neal

   Basketball (NBA) · USA

   Shaquille O'Neal starred at LSU before the Orlando Magic made him the No. 1 pick of the 1992 NBA Draft. He won three straight NBA titles with the Los Angeles Lakers, each time as Finals MVP, and a fourth with the Miami Heat in 2006. A 15-time All-Star and 1996 Olympic champion, he entered the Hall of Fame in 2016.

   • His feet kept growing after he reached the NBA, going from size 19 to size 22 between 1992 and 1995. Andscape
   • For his 2016 Hall of Fame induction, Reebok specially made 1,000 signed size 22 versions of the Reebok Shaq Attaq, his first NBA signature shoe, each sold in a glass case for $999.32, a nod to his Orlando Magic No. 32. ESPN

   “We give out very few signed size 22 shoes a year to charity auctions” · ESPN, 4 Aug 2016

   US 22
9. 

   Tacko Fall

   Basketball (NBA, now overseas) · Senegal · 229 cm

   Tacko Fall is a 7-foot-6 centre from Dakar, Senegal. At UCF he set an NCAA Division I record for career field goal percentage and left as the program's leader in blocked shots. He signed with the Boston Celtics in 2019, when he was the tallest player in the NBA.

   • Growing up in Dakar, Fall owned a single pair of sandals, and he stitched them back together when they broke. Bangor Daily News
   • Before the 2019 draft, the Action Network's Darren Rovell reported that Fall would become only the fifth NBA player to wear size 22 shoes, after Shaquille O'Neal, Will Perdue, Bob Lanier and Dikembe Mutombo. Sports Illustrated

   “Fall wears size 22 shoes” · Sports Illustrated, 4 June 2019

   US 22
10. EK

    Eric Kilburn Jr.

    Guinness record holder · USA

    Eric Kilburn Jr., from Goodrich, Michigan, holds two Guinness World Records titles: largest feet on a living teenager and largest hands on a living teenager. He applied for the titles at 14, and they appeared in the Guinness World Records 2025 book when he was 16. His hands measured 23.20 cm.

    • He has not been able to buy shoes in a store since about fifth grade, and custom-made orthopaedic shoes cost over US$1,500 a pair. Guinness World Records
    • After his story spread online, Puma and Under Armour offered him custom-made shoes and boots. Guinness World Records

    Measured as a teenager in 2024.

    Guinness World Records, 12 Sept 2024

    US 23
11. SK

    Sultan Kosen

    Guinness record holder · Turkey · 251 cm

    Sultan Kösen, from Mardin in Türkiye, has been the world's tallest living man since Guinness World Records measured him in 2009. He stands 251 cm (8 ft 2.8 in) and also holds the record for the largest hands on a living man. He worked as a farmer, and treatment in the United States stopped his growth in 2012.

    • His feet once held a Guinness record of their own, with his left foot measuring 36.5 cm (1 ft 2 in) and his right 35.5 cm. Guinness World Records
    • He finds shoes very hard to buy, so he has them specially made. Guinness World Records

    Guinness reports European size 60.

    Guinness World Records, 1 Apr 2025

    ≈ US 23

1. 

   Andre the Giant

   Professional wrestling (WWE) · France · 224 cm

   Andre the Giant, born Andre Rene Roussimoff in France, was billed at 7 foot 4 and 520 pounds while wrestling for the WWE in the 1970s and 1980s. His 1987 WrestleMania III match against Hulk Hogan helped turn WWE into a national entertainment force. That year he also played the gentle giant Fezzik in The Princess Bride.

   • A pair of his wrestling boots is on display in an Andre the Giant exhibit at the Rankin Museum of American Heritage in Ellerbe, North Carolina, the small town where he had a ranch. PineStraw
   • He had acromegaly, which causes too much growth hormone and unusual bone growth in the hands, feet and face. He refused treatment, saying that was how God made him. PineStraw

   “A pair of his size-26 cowboy boots are kept at a museum.” · NBC News (Associated Press), 23 Apr 2026

   US 26
2. IV

   Igor Vovkovinskiy

   Tallest man in the USA · USA (born Ukraine) · 234.5 cm

   Igor Vovkovinskiy was born in Bar, Ukraine, in 1982 and came to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, for treatment as a child. A tumour on his pituitary gland made him grow to 234.5 cm, and a Guinness adjudicator declared him America's tallest living person. He died of heart disease in 2021, aged 38.

   • At 22 he had three pairs of size 26 shoes made by a German cobbler. By 2012 he was down to his last worn pair and could not afford the estimated $15,000 for new ones. SBS News
   • After his 2012 online appeal, Reebok offered to make him custom shoes for free. Staff at its headquarters in Canton, Massachusetts, took measurements and impressions of his feet to build a three-dimensional mould. The Boston Globe

   A German shoemaker made him size 26 shoes. Reebok estimated his size at 22 to 26.

   SBS News (CNN content), 28 Mar 2012

   US 26
3. JR

   Jeison Rodriguez

   Guinness record holder · Venezuela · 220 cm

   Jeison Orlando Rodríguez Hernández, from Maracay in Venezuela, holds the Guinness World Records title for the largest feet on a living man. He first took the title in 2014, and his feet had grown further when Guinness remeasured them in France in 2018. He is 220 cm tall and has said he would like to become a pastry chef.

   • Guinness printed his left foot at actual size on the inside back cover of the Guinness World Records 2016 book, so readers could compare their own feet. Guinness World Records
   • Since 2011, German shoemaker Georg Wessels has made his shoes. Before that, Jeison wore sandals made of old tyres and fabric to school. Guinness World Records

   Guinness World Records, 4 June 2018

   US 26
4. LS

   Leonid Stadnyk

   Historical giant · Ukraine · 254 cm

   Leonid Stadnyk was a Ukrainian vet from the village of Podoliantsy who was believed to be one of the world's tallest men, at about 8 ft 4 in. Guinness World Records named him tallest living man on the strength of a doctor's statement, then withdrew the title when he refused to be measured. He died in 2014, aged 44.

   • He had to give up his job as a vet at a cattle farm after his feet were frostbitten, because he could not afford proper shoes for them. Lawrence Journal-World
   • In 2004 local businessmen paid for a good pair of shoes for him. The $200 cost was about seven months of his small pension. Lawrence Journal-World

   Converted from his reported 17-inch feet.

   Associated Press (Anna Melnichuk) via Lawrence Journal-World, 18 Apr 2004

   ≈ US 29
5. MM

   Matthew McGrory

   Actor · United States · 229 cm

   Matthew McGrory was an American actor who appeared on Howard Stern's radio show in the 1990s before moving into films. He played Karl the Giant in Big Fish and appeared in Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects. He died in 2005, aged 32, while working on a film about Andre the Giant.

   • In about 1992 he sent Guinness foot tracings, photos and a doctor's letter, and took the world's-biggest-feet title from Pakistan's Haji Mohammad Alam Channa. Tampa Bay Times
   • Converse supplied his shoes until his feet passed size 22. After that a New Jersey podiatrist arranged custom shoes, and Chicago designer Zully Alvarado made his brown high-top boots. Tampa Bay Times

   A 1994 report said size 26. His 2005 obituary says 29.5.

   “McGrory, who had size 29 1/2 shoes” · Deseret News (Associated Press), 11 Aug 2005

   US 29.5
6. 

   Robert Wadlow

   Guinness record holder · USA · 272 cm

   Robert Wadlow, born in Alton, Illinois, in 1918, is the tallest man in medical history, measured at 2.72 m (8 ft 11.1 in) in June 1940. A growth on his pituitary gland made him grow throughout his life. He toured the US with the Ringling Brothers Circus in 1936 and died in July 1940, aged 22.

   • From 1938 he toured as a spokesman for the International Shoe Company, which made his custom size 37 shoes free of charge. California Department of Corrections
   • He died from a septic blister on his right ankle, caused by a brace that had been badly fitted only a week earlier. Guinness World Records

   Guinness World Records

   US 37

Everyone up to US 26 with a known height. Australians in blue.