A tall and a short basketplayer. Photo: Johner Images (Getty)
Odds are you’ll best recognize the name Olivier Rioux from the line, “Who in the hell is Olivier Rioux?” According to Deadspin, Rioux is a 12-year-old French basketball player tearing up the pee-wee league he’s playing in. One of the factors behind his domination is the rims in this league have been lowered to eight feet instead of the standard ten.
The other reason? Oh, right — he’s 6’9″ tall.
I have a brother-in-law who is probably the worst possible athlete you could imagine on the basketball court given that he’s 5’8″ tall, 41 years of age and roughly 65 pounds overweight. However, he can still dunk a basketball on a rim that’s been lowered to eight feet. So if he can do it, imagine what it looks like when Rioux gives it a go. Actually, you won’t have to:
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Yeah, that’s pretty much a mockery of the game of basketball, but you can’t kill the messenger here. Rioux is simply a 12-year-old kid who is playing in the league that has been designed for all kids his age.
Still, it might be worth bringing up raising the rim back to 10 feet at the next board meeting.
