Getty Tacko Fall, formerly of the Boston Celtics.
Former Boston Celtics center Tacko Fall always excited fans whenever he took the court. Due to his extremely long frame at seven feet, six inches, Fall was always a major attraction during his time with the Celtics. Granted, they usually only played him in games where the game was all but decided, but when his name was called, the crowd went wild.
Fall has not played for the Celtics since 2021, and it appears his NBA career, for the time being, is on hiatus. Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that Fall will be headed overseas to the Chinese Basketball Association, as he has agreed to a one-year contract to play for the Xinjiang Flying Tigers.
Three-year NBA veteran Tacko Fall is signing a one-year deal in the Chinese Basketball Association with Xinjiang, per sources. The 7-foot-6 center played for Boston and Cleveland and now departs to play abroad.
While Fall is certainly not the first NBA player to play for the CBA, he’s also not even the first former Celtic to play specifically for the Xinjiang Flying Tigers. The list of former Celtics who have played at some point for the Flying Tigers includes:
–Ben Bentil
–Jordan Crawford
–Lester Hudson
–Al Jefferson
–Sebastian Telfair
–Von Wafer
Fall will be the seventh player previously associated with the Celtics to play for the Flying Tigers. While this could be the end of Fall’s career as an NBA player, this could be just the start of his career as a professional basketball player overseas.
Fall’s Time With the Celtics
Fall played for the Celtics from 2019 to 2021. In his two seasons with the Celtics, Fall only played in 26 games total.
In the seven games he played for the Celtics during the 2019-20 season, he averaged 3.3 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 0.6 blocks in only 4.7 minutes a game while shooting 78.6 percent from the field. In the 19 games he played for the Celtics during the 2020-2021 season, Fall averaged 2.5 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks in only 7.7 minutes a game while shooting 72.4 percent from the field.
Fall’s best game for the Celtics came against the Washington Wizards on January 8, 2021, where in 19 minutes of game action, Fall put up four points, eight rebounds, and three blocks.
As for his postseason career with the Celtics, Fall only played in two playoff games during his time with the team. The first game was Game 2 against the Philadelphia 76ers during the first round of the 2020 NBA Playoffs.
The other time the Celtics used him was at the end of Game 3 of the 2020 Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Toronto Raptors to defend Kyle Lowry on the inbound with half a second to go. It did not end in Boston’s favor.
Fall’s NBA Career Post-Boston
After the Celtics decided not to keep Fall long-term, Fall caught on with the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he split time between playing for them and their G-League affiliate, the Cleveland Charge.
Fall only played 11 games for the Cavaliers, where he averaged 1.1 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 0.5 blocks in 5.4 minutes while shooting 41.7 percent from the field.
Fall then joined the Utah Jazz’s 2022 Summer League roster, where he averaged three points, 3.5 rebounds, and 0.5 blocks in the two games he played during the Salt Lake City Summer League.
Tacko Fall may never find a permanent home in the NBA, but he was always a fan favorite no matter where he played.