Jamaican teen stands tall

Jamaica claims the world’s fastest man, a champion best speller, the king of reggae music, and some will argue the best destination for tasty jerk cuisine, the most fertile soil for growing sought-after ‘weed’ and even some reputed negatives nationals will deny or attribute to the Caribbean, tourist hamlet. Add a six foot 11 inches Jamaican gift in the form of 16-year-old Marvadene “Bubbles” Anderson.

Anderson is not only tall but a talented teenager too who is now being touted as the world’s tallest teenager. Recruited from Jamaica last year to play basketball in the Garden State of New Jersey, the athletic giant now plays for Rutgers Preparatory High School.

She was already a top scorer in netball at her home school in Jamaica when an assistant coach offered a scholarship to play the game, foreign to her practice. One year later, at 16, the sophomore is reportedly on the court, dribbling, passing and scoring as if she was born to play basketball.

Nicknamed “Bubbles” for her bubbly personality, Anderson said most people are curious about her height and often assume that she plays college ball. She said they are often shocked by her age.

“People are friendly with me because of my height and my personality. If I was tall and mean, I think I’d have a problem,” Anderson said.

By the way, the teenager is not the only heightened family member, “They call me ‘baby giant,’ and my older sister Kimberly is 6-foot-4. They call us the Twin Towers,” she said.