The Fascinating Real-Life Story Of Robert Bobroczkyi

A sporting family Once a promising athletic scholar,   now falling into a blood-curdling role in  a sci-fi blockbuster, the towering Robert   Bobroczkyi's height is just one of the many  things that sets him apart from the herd. Hailing from a sporty family from Arad, Romania,  Bobroczkyi was perhaps always destined to use his   significant height advantage on the basketball  court. Notably, both of his parents had already   made a living in the sporting world,  including Romania's answer to the NBA. His father, Zsigmond Bobroczkyi, who  stands at seven feet, one inch himself,   used to shoot hoops for various clubs  including West Petrom Arad and Elba Timisoara,   with the former based in the family's hometown. Even more impressively, Zsigmond represented his  country on its national team. In fact, he was   teammates with the ex-Washington Bullets player  Gheorghe Mureșan, who at a lofty seven feet,   seven inches, became the joint-tallest player in  the history of the NBA back in the early 1990s. Robert's mother, Brunhilde Bobroczkyi,  was also pretty nifty on the court,   although her talents lay in volleyball. Outgrew his father quickly With such considerably tall parents,  Bobroczkyi was never going to struggle   to reach the top shelf at the supermarket.  But even so, his parents were surely still   amazed when he ended up outgrowing them both  before he even reached his teenage years. The basketball star shot up past his mom at the  age of just 8, and within the span of four years,   he had done the same with his dad. Unfortunately,  Robert found it hard to deal with all of the   growing pains at the time. He told The  Washington Post, with "small" meaning "young," "I guess when I was small,  I focused on the negatives." "The worst thing is for sure that you always have   to bend down whenever you  pass a door or something." It was only when he met his father's teammate,   Gheorghe Mureșan, that he started to feel  comfortable in his own skin. He reflected, "I had to look up for the first time." Recalling one particular phone conversation  with the NBA's tallest player, he added, "We talked about never being shy,  never feeling sorry for ourselves,   just accept it, be happy and live with it." No growth disorder Having watched their son tower past them  both by the age of 12, Bobroczkyi's parents   were understandably concerned that he may  have some sort of growth disorder. However,   the basketball player's height surprisingly  can't be explained by a medical condition. As a 14-year-old, Bobroczkyi's parents took  him to Washington's Children's National Medical   Center for various tests. After a week, the  doctors ruled out that he had a disorder such   as Marfan syndrome, which impacts the connective  tissue in the body and can cause heart problems,   or gigantism, where the pituitary gland  releases too many growth hormones. Sadly, Bobroczkyi does have to contend with  one health issue: scoliosis. The sportsman   developed the condition, which affects the  curvature of the spine, as a youngster and,   as a result, has to constantly deal with pain  in his lower back. If that wasn't enough,   he also has to deal with a misalignment  of his hips by a matter of inches. "Right now, focusing on developing  my body. The speed and the mobility." Beginning his basketball career It didn't take long for the basketball world  to recognize that Bobroczkyi's still-growing   stature may be a major asset. In 2014,  when the Romanian was only 13 years old,   he was signed by the Italian  amateur team, A.S. Stella Azzurra. However, it wasn't just his physical attributes  that impressed the team's scouts. Although   they expressed concerns about his endurance and  general court mobility due to his immense height,   they also pointed out his impressive  passing and midrange jumping skills. Bobroczkyi lived with a host family in Frosinone,  a small municipality roughly a 60-minute drive   from Rome. There, he was able to focus on his  health with access to a rehab and physical   therapy center, as well as the local soccer  team's nutritionist to help build muscle mass. He soon repaid their faith and time when he helped  guide Stella Azzurra to the national under-15   title. Pretty soon, he was also helping to put the  largely unknown Serie B team on the global map. Went viral at 13 Bobroczkyi found himself going viral in 2014  at the age of just 13 thanks to a video clip   that showed off both his remarkable stature and  his skills on the court. The Romanian became   the talk of the basketball world and beyond  when he was shown playing for Stella Azzurra. Although Bobroczkyi helped the team win the  national under-15 title, he was forced to miss out   on most of the following season due to concerns  about his physical well-being. Indeed, far from   capitalizing on all the attention, Stella Azzurra  admirably seemed more interested in protecting   their prized asset. As the general manager of  its basketball academy told The New York Times, "We're not interested in basketball  right now. The top priority is his   health. We've got to make sure that  five years from now not only can he   play basketball but that he's  also a fairly normal person." Teased about his size Bobroczkyi's colossal height made him  an instant target while growing up,   but it wasn't just schoolkids who used his  stature against him. As he revealed in his   interview with The Washington Post, the basketball  player was also taunted by passing tourists. Indeed, during his time in Italy, Bobroczkyi  would often hear heckles from travelers about   his size while out and about. Proving that he had  a wise head on his shoulders from a young age,   the center didn't retaliate. Bobroczkyi reflected, "At the beginning, I just tried to ignore it.  But then as I grew up a bit and got more mature,   I realized that just ignoring it is  not necessarily the right solution.   You have to be smart about it. Not  everyone is necessarily polite,   and some people have never seen such a tall  person before, so it's a normal reaction." So, whenever someone feels the need  to audibly respond to his presence,   he simply chooses to smile. "You can always see the world from 7' 7'',  naturally, and you can always see it from 5' 5''." Scouted via Facebook In 2014, Bob Bossman, the head coach of Ohio's  SPIRE Institute designed to train and school   the next generation of athletes, used Facebook to  contact the basketball player who was making waves   across Europe for both his height and his hoop  abilities. Bossman recalled to The New York Times, "I saw he has potential. You don't get  to work with a kid like that often." After some Googling, during which  he learned that Bobroczkyi was one   of Europe's tallest players, he sent  a message via Facebook inquiring about   his possible availability. Much to his  surprise, Bobroczkyi messaged him back,   and the pair forged a connection that would  build entirely online for the next two years. With only 30 human beings officially taller  than the Romanian in the entire world, Bossman   recognized that his presence would be a valuable  marketing tool in the age of virality, while   Bobroczkyi knew that a place at the well-funded  SPIRE would help with his athletic dreams. After a 2016 trip to see the institute in  person, Bobroczkyi accepted a spot, which also   came with room and board worth $55,000, sports  psychology sessions, and full medical benefits. Creative workouts Of course, once the SPIRE Institute welcomed  Bobroczkyi into their program, they faced a major   problem: How on earth do you train a teenager  who stands at seven feet, seven inches tall? Strength and conditioning coach  Brandon Strausser and performance   director John Wallace were tasked with  devising a plan that would accommodate   the Romanian's imposing frame. They  came up with 50 different exercises,   including a body resistance workout which focused  more on straps and bands than traditional weights,   and a stretching routine that lasted 40 minutes.  As Strausser explained to The New York Times, "As much as we can of each movement, in every  single movement category that we can think of,   is literally on here. Because he needs it." Bobroczkyi seemed fully aware of this  fact, telling The Washington Post, "I have to gain at least 60 pounds. Everything  is centralized around getting big. The biggest   struggle [on the court] is getting  from point A to point B. Speed." Everyday life is challenging As you'd expect from a man who stands at well  over seven feet tall, Bobroczkyi has more than   his fair share of challenges while dealing with  the everyday. While most of us take being able   to fit into a bed for granted, for example,  the Romanian requires a few modifications. Officials had to bring in an 8-foot bed while  Bobroczkyi was living in a dorm room at the   historic Grand River Academy. Unfortunately,  when he joined his SPIRE Institute teammates   in a shared house, the same bed couldn't fit  through the door. As a result, the basketball   player had to use a couple of suitcases at the end  of a normal-sized bed to accommodate his frame. Then, there's the fact that most doorways  are way too low, flights can be agonizing,   and his clothes need to be custom made. In  fact, Bobroczkyi's shirts are a whopping XXXXXL! "Clothes-wise. I have some — like the jeans —  you can't find them so they're custom made." Even a family sightseeing trip in Washington D.C.  proved to be difficult, with the sportsman having   to constantly crouch down every time they took  the Metro. Luckily, Bobroczkyi appears to take   all the obstacles in his stride, telling The  New York Times, "You have to get used to it." Academically strong There's more to Bobroczkyi's talents  than his size and skills on the court.   According to those who know  him, he's one smart cookie. Not only is he a straight-A student, he can also  speak his native Romanian, as well as English,   Italian, and Hungarian. So what does he like to  do when his head isn't buried in his books? Well,   Bobroczkyi is a keen gamer, with  NBA 2K as a particular favorite. "I used to be a legend in Black Ops 2." He also enjoys watching horror movies,  used YouTube to teach himself how to   play the piano, and is a bit  of a sci-fi geek as well. It was likely due to his academic prowess that he  accepted an offer to play for the men's basketball   team at Rochester Christian University. No  one was more delighted by this development   than his coach at SPIRE, Dawud Abdur-Rahkman.  As the coach told SPIRE's official website, "Robert is a rockstar. In my 25 years of coaching,   I've never seen someone with such a sweet  and pure stroke. When he's in the paint,   he cannot be stopped, period. He could be one  of the greatest basketball stories ever told." 4,500 calories daily To gain the muscle mass needed for  a career in the NBA, Bobroczkyi was   put on the kind of diet plan that would  make most people feel bloated just by   looking at it. During his stint at SPIRE  Institute, the Romanian was advised by   the nearby Cleveland Clinic to consume a  whopping 4,500 calories every single day! SPIRE hoped to increase Bobroczkyi's weight  by at least one pound every month. According   to The New York Times, the Romanian consumed  a feast of turkey tetrazzini, breaded chicken,   and green beans followed by not just  one but two portions of rice pudding. At least that was a little more varied than  what he was required to eat during his time   in Italy. Thanks to a little help from the  National Institutes of Health, Stella Azzurra's   team devised a meal schedule which, perhaps  unsurprisingly, was dominated by pasta. In fact,   poor Bobroczkyi's daily consumption of  the stuff amounted to two whole pounds! Dreams of going pro Speaking with The Washington Post,   Bobroczkyi expressed his dream of gracing  a professional court. He explained, "If I make it, my whole country would  be proud. Everyone would know me,   and it would be a reason to be proud." Unfortunately, unlike several of his  classmates, including Charlotte Hornets   point guard LaMelo Ball, the Romanian has  yet to fulfill this particular hoop dream. It certainly hasn't been for the want of trying,   though. Many of his fellow teammates  at SPIRE believed he had what it took   to make it into the big league. As  one testified to The New York Times, "He's so skilled for his height. I've never  seen a guy that can shoot threes like him,   especially the college three already." Bobroczkyi's promising sporting career  was no doubt disrupted by the pandemic.   As COVID-19 started to spread across the  world, the center returned to his homeland   to spend time with his family. He made his  way back to Rochester Christian University's   men's basketball team for the next school  year, and it seems that the player has   been keeping busy between his basketball  schedule and extracurricular activities. Appearing in Alien: Romulus In 2024, Bobroczkyi followed in the footsteps  of serial retiree Michael Jordan, LeBron James,   and Shaquille O'Neal when he swapped the  basketball court for the big screen. Unlike   his predecessors, however, the Romanian was  more interested in inducing scares than laughs. Indeed, Bobroczkyi appeared in the terrifying  finale of Alien: Romulus, Fede Álvarez's   long-awaited seventh installment of the sci-fi  horror franchise that launched Sigourney Weaver   onto the A-list and introduced the immortal  tagline, "In space, no one can hear you scream." Of course, the sportsman was required  to sport so many prosthetics that even   his own family is unlikely to have recognized him. Without giving too much away, Bobroczkyi  pops up as the horrifying human-Xenomorph   hybrid that we see toward the end of the film  that takes place between the events of 1979's   Ridley Scott-directed Alien and James Cameron's  1986 follow-up Aliens. Could this be the start   of a glittering new career for the seven-foot,  seven-inch multi-talent? Only time will tell.