He’s famous. He’s got cash. He’s an Ivy Leaguer. And he’s tall … very, very tall. Chris Dudley has all the right stuff to make it in the world of politics. On Tuesday, the 16-year NBA vet did just that, beating out businessman Allen Ally and tax activist Bill Sizemore for the Republican nomination for Governor of Oregon.

“Tonight Oregon’s comeback begins,” the 6-foot-11 former center told a crowd during his acceptance speech, according to KGW Portland. “I will work hard to earn your support because Oregon’s comeback will be your comeback as well.”

Dudley, 45 and Connecticut born, isn’t your typical Republican. According to the Wall Street Journal, he’s pro-choice, pro civil unions for gay couples, and he doesn’t hold membership in the National Rifle Association. As was the case during his long and mediocre NBA career during which he averaged just 46 percent at the free throw line, Dudley is all about rebounding. This time, his focus is on snapping the job market back to life in Oregon, where he played for the Portland Trail Blazers — four years during his peak and two years to close out his NBA career.

Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1981, he opened the Chris Dudley Foundation in 1998 to improve the lives of diabetic children living in Oregon. He won the NBA’s J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award in 1996, USA Today’s Most Caring Athlete Award in 1997 and he donated $300,000 to a Portland nonprofit to send a class of fourth-graders to college.

The Yale grad also holds the NBA record for most consecutive missed free throws (13), and his wife, a fifth generation Oregonian, is also named Chris Dudley.

In November’s general election, Dudley will post up against former two-term Oregon governor John Kitzhaber. It looks like the match-up might come down to the final shot. According to a Rasmussen poll conducted in late April, both Dudley and Kitzhaber attract 41 percent of likely voters.

Dudley, we’re sure, is hoping he doesn’t get fouled.