NBA Players Who ACTUALLY Lied About Their Age..

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We've seen players lie about their height to avoid stereotypes and being forced into positions, but players have also been lying about their age throughout NBA history as well. Tekimbe Mutombo is a true legend when you talk about the center position in the NBA. He was also known for his philanthropy and humanitarian work. But during his long 18-year career in the NBA, Mutombo was constantly accused of lying about his age. The Congolese-American basketball player was drafted in the 1991 NBA draft as the fourth pick by the Denver Nuggets. Mutombo played for many teams during his long career, but he retired in 2009 as a part of the Houston Rockets. After the age accusations going on in his entire career, he confronted it. In 2008, during an interview, Mutombo had a lot to say to clear up the situation, and it started to involve his wife and kids. During the interview, Mutombo said, My wife just mentioned that to me a few days ago. She said, Honey, I think this joke has gone on too long and it has to stop. Is there a way you could tell the commissioner during the All-Star break to let the world know that this thing needs to stop from a media standpoint all the way to the players? With that question being asked by his wife, he explained how the accusations about his age made him feel. When he said during the interview, It really doesn't disturb me, but it hurts when your wife starts feeling uncomfortable about it. Even my daughter says, Daddy, why are they talking about your age? She's nine years old and she knows about it. The age accusations didn't really have an impact on his career due to him still being a Hall of Famer, and he's considered one of the best shot blockers the NBA has ever seen. Starting out as a 16 year old playing in Spain before he was discovered by anyone in a basketball tournament in Yemen, the six foot nine player got a contract to play for a Finio Labrada, Qatafi Madrid. Bianbo, who spent part of his career with the Orlando Magic, but most of it was Charlotte and is currently playing for the Hornets, joined the league as an 18 year old. At least that's what everyone thought. But a lot of the scouts thought that he was estimated to be anywhere from the age of 23 to 26 Before Bianbo was drafted in 2011, ESPN's Chad Ford said, when he talks, he sounds like a wise old traveler, not the 18 year old he claims to be. But during the interview, Chad Ford said that Bianbo repeatedly told him he was born on August 28th, 1992, and he said it multiple times during the interview. Although there's no proof that he's older than he says, NBA scouts just said that he talks and sounds wiser than he plays, and it makes him seem older. During his NCAA tenure, it wouldn't be hard to say that he was older than 18, if he compares physique with pretty much everyone else that was playing college ball at the time. Despite all the accusations that Thon got about lying about his age, he always denied them. Thon claimed to be 19 years old at the year of the draft, but he was believed to be as old as 23 With the accusations going towards Thon about his age, the biggest thing that backs it up is there have been leaks of yearbook photos with Thon Maker being a part of the 2010 graduating class. Thon had a lot to say about his age and how it made him feel. During an interview, he said, it did get to me in terms of hearing about it, but it didn't get to me personally, because if it were true, I'd probably be like sideways about it, but it's not true, so I'm comfortable. I'm not angry or anything. I've got a lot to learn what I could say and what I can't say now. Shabazz declared for the 2013 NBA draft, and he was projected to be a top lottery pick because of his dominating performance in high school and his one year at UCLA, but he fell lower in the draft and projected. Shabazz was drafted 14th overall to the Utah Jazz, but his drafting rights were given to the Minnesota Timberwolves shortly after, where he played most of his career. The California native who dominated college, making him a college sensation, was soon discovered to be lying about his age along with his family. Shabazz and his family lied about his age so that when he was playing basketball, he'd have an advantage and would be noticed easier as he dominated the younger competition. Shabazz was 20 years old at the time of the draft, but pretended to be 19 And that's what ruined his draft pick, making him 14th instead of a projected top three pick. Shabazz's player profile for the NCAA stated that he was born on November 13th, 1993 The copy of his birth certificate at the Los Angeles County Department of Health stated that he was born a year earlier. Shabazz's dad continued to lie about his age during an interview trying to back up the story when he said, it must be a mistake. But his dad then confirmed a few minutes later that his son is actually 20 years of age, was born at Long Beach, California. So with Shabazz and his family lying about his age, for him to have an easier chance of being a star in college, which it did, it basically ruined his NBA career because he was drafted later than projected and ultimately made him a bench player rather than a starter. Ersan Elie Sova, the 6'10 forward, was listed as a Turkish player, which is where he started his career before he was drafted to the NBA in 2005 But there are claims that he's three years older than he claims, that he's actually from Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan strongly believes that Ersan was one of their own while he was playing in Turkey. So Uzbekistan officials filed a complaint to FIBA, which eventually ruled in Turkey's favor. The claim that Uzbekistan officials filed stated that Ersan Ilyasova left Turkey in August of 2002 as an 18-year-old man and never returned. The following month, a Turkish man said that he forgot to register his son on the date of his birth and proceeded to register him as Ersan Ilyasova as a 15-year-old. If Ersan is actually the 18-year-old man that left Turkey in 2002 and never returned, then Ersan is definitely not as young as he claims to be. Manu Bol is listed as one of the tallest players in NBA history, and he's one of the better defensive players the league has ever seen. Manu was born to parents Medut and Akhwak Bol in South Sudan. Manu got his first name from his father, which means special blessing. Manu has no formal birthday. For Manu, age is just a number, because he has no actual birthday, and no one actually knows how old he was. Former Cleveland State Kevin Mackey recruited Manu from Sudan and brought him to Cleveland, Ohio in 1985 Mackey had high hopes of bringing Bol to the States that he would receive and be the founder of the next big NBA prospect. And he went as far as to lie about Manu Bol's birthday to get him in. Bol's biography said that he was born October 12th, 1968, but that birthday came from Coach Mackey, not his official birth certificate, because he doesn't actually have one. When Mackey was in the process of recruiting Bol, he wanted to make sure that he was young enough to play. During an interview, he explained what he did to create the birthday. He said, I gave him his birthday because they didn't know how old he was. It was in October, and I wanted to make it after September 1st. I wanted to make sure he was young enough because he didn't have an age. I think he was in his 40s. I really do. But there's no way of ever really knowing. During the same interview, Coach Mackey also said, every athletic door is open at the age of 19