TD Garden, December 2019. Tacko Fall checks in with under three minutes left, the Celtics already up big, and the arena starts chanting his name before he’s even touched the ball. That was six years ago, and he hasn’t played a regular-season NBA minute since the 2021-22 season. On Tuesday, the Philadelphia 76ers signed him anyway — an Exhibit 10 deal, non-guaranteed, essentially a camp invite, alongside Jameer Nelson Jr. (son of that Jameer Nelson) and a forward named Saint Thomas who isn’t getting a fraction of the attention. Fall, at 30, is the one dominating the timeline today. He usually is. Has been since 2019, really.
Even people who don’t follow basketball closely tend to know him — 7 feet 6 inches, Senegalese, hands the size of dinner plates, undrafted out of UCF, and somehow one of the most beloved role players in modern NBA history despite averaging around six minutes a game across his entire career. The stat line reads 2.2 points and 2.4 rebounds a night. That’s essentially the whole résumé. People adored him regardless.
Few Players Explain “Fan Favorite” Quite Like Tacko Does
The Boston chants are worth revisiting, because little else in recent NBA history compares. “We want Tacko” started at Summer League in 2019, before he’d even made a regular-season roster, and it simply never let up. Coaches would be up twenty points in the fourth quarter and the entire building would start demanding minutes for the backup center. Brad Stevens, to his credit, usually obliged.
I anticipated the fan reaction, but not at that level. It was a little overwhelming. It meant a lot. The love that they kept showing just showed that my work wasn’t going unnoticed. – Tacko Fall
There was a game against Charlotte in December 2019 where he checked in with under three minutes left, grabbed a rebound, scored on a layup he practically had to shoot downward for, then threw down an alley-oop — and TD Garden erupted into genuine “MVP” chants. For a player who finished with four points. Jayson Tatum dropped 39 that same night, and no one seemed to notice. The Tacko effect resists easy explanation; it isn’t only the height, though the height plainly helps. It functions more like the appeal of a mascot, except this mascot can also finish a lob.
He conducted the Boston Pops once — stood on stage in a tuxedo and led the orchestra through “Sleigh Ride.” Conductor Keith Lockhart put it well at the time:
This town has been buzzing about this gentleman — not just because of his impressive stature but also because of the size of his heart and personality. – Keith Lockhart
That kind of civic affection doesn’t attach itself to a player logging six minutes a night unless something more substantial sits beneath the novelty.
Tacko Fall during his time in Boston. Source: Sky Sports
A Short NBA Career, a Very Long Shelf Life
Fall signed with Boston as an undrafted free agent in 2019, shuttling between the Celtics and the Maine Red Claws in the G League, before a trade sent him to Cleveland in 2021, where his NBA tenure quietly ended after that season. Across parts of three seasons with the Celtics and Cavaliers combined, he appeared in 37 games, started exactly one, and averaged 6.2 minutes. Fans once brought him taco-themed merchandise to autograph at a Massachusetts meet-and-greet — a box of taco shells, a Taco Bell tray, all of it signed without complaint.
Since Cleveland moved on from him, Fall has played overseas, most recently with the Ningbo Rockets of the Chinese Basketball Association, trying to stay in the conversation for a league that had largely moved past him around age 27. Thirty is a tough age to stage a comeback from, especially at a position where mobility was never really his selling point to begin with.
Why Philadelphia, and Why Now
The 76ers’ roster is essentially set — fourteen players under contract, one open two-way spot that will go to whoever earns it in camp. This isn’t a story about Fall walking into a rotation role. It’s a training-camp audition for a G League assignment at best. He’ll compete alongside Nelson Jr. and Thomas in Camden later this month, and the odds of him breaking camp with a standard roster spot remain long.
There is, however, one detail that makes this signing more interesting than a routine Exhibit 10 move. Jaylen Brown plays for Philadelphia now. Fall and Brown were teammates in Boston from 2019 to 2021, right through the peak of TackoMania, and it’s not hard to imagine this had at least as much to do with a familiar face wanting a familiar face nearby as it did with any actual roster need. In a league this transactional, that’s not nothing.
Whether he ultimately makes the roster or lands with the Delaware Blue Coats, one outcome seems safe to predict: wherever he steps onto a court this month, someone in the crowd starts chanting his name within minutes. That part of him hasn’t changed and probably never will.
FAQ
Did Tacko Fall sign with the 76ers?
Yes. Philadelphia announced on September 1, 2026, that it signed Tacko Fall, Jameer Nelson Jr., and Saint Thomas to Exhibit 10 training camp contracts ahead of camp in Camden, New Jersey.
What is an Exhibit 10 contract?
A non-guaranteed, one-year training camp deal that lets a player compete for a roster or G League spot, with a bonus available if they end up signing with the team’s G League affiliate instead.
When did Tacko Fall last play in the NBA?
During the 2021-22 season with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Before that, he played for the Boston Celtics from 2019 to 2021, where he became a cult fan favorite.
How tall is Tacko Fall?
7 feet 6 inches, making him one of the tallest players in NBA history. At the 2019 NBA Draft Combine, he officially measured 7-foot-7 in shoes with an 8-foot-2¼ wingspan and a 10-foot-2½ standing reach.
