Who was the shortest player in NBA history? According to a general opinion, basketball is a sport for tall guys. When you are just a boy, especially after the age of 12, when you have height and solid build, they tell you that you might become somebody. If you’re short, and the years when you grow have passed, that’s it. No more. You stay at that height. You are on your own. Some give up, some don’t.

I’m not sure if there is any limit that determines when you are tall enough to become a basketball player, but I would say that it is virtually set somewhere at 6-foot. All those who did not reach that height were labeled as too short for serious basketball.

If Chris Paul barely escaped that label, there were some to whom nature did not give to cross that magical limit. Some might call those players short but most of them were heroes with a big heart.

The most famous among them is Tyrone Curtis Muggsy Bogues who was only 5-3. He had an astonishing vertical of 44 inches.

Theoretically, he could dunk the ball with that leap but such an event was never recorded, still, there are several witnesses who stated that he dunked numerous times during practice and warm-ups.

Muggsy was born in 1965 on the east side of Baltimore, Maryland.

“I think my mother gave birth to me at this height,” Muggsy says. “I don’t remember ever growing up, I feel like I’ve always been the same.”

The whole family was of similar height, so he was not surprised that he did not grow much. Still, that didn’t stop him from making basketball his favorite sport. Since childhood, he has been fighting for his place under the sun, although he has received mocking comments and predictions every day that he will never play professional basketball.

Fortunately, he envisioned that basketball is played by those who know how to play, not those who are just tall.

From an early age, he was focused on playing defense and creating plays, more than on pure scoring.

Dunbar High School was the stage where a spectacular five played. Coach Bob Wade, who will later coach Maryland, was the creator of that team.

David Wingate, Reggie Lewis, Reggie Williams, and Muggsy Bogues were members of a team that went to a perfect 60-0 in the 1981/1982 and 1982/1983 seasons. The “brick house”, as they were called, was an insurmountable obstacle for all rivals. They were so inspired that season, that many predicted brilliant careers for the best players of the team.

It was a school that lived for basketball. In the period from 1956 to 1988, they won as many as 17 conference championships. From 1997 to 2007, they won four national championships.

Muggsy fondly remembers the game against Camden School in New Jersey. The audience laughed at him when he went out to warm up. The match faced two undefeated teams.

The fans were saying that he was only good as a waterboy. Coach Wade looked at him and asked if he was okay. Muggsy just said, “Coach, we’re having a field party today.” Dunbar “wiped the floor” with the Camden team. They won 84:59.

After high school, Muggsy was offered a scholarship from Wake Forest, a school that would later give the best power forward in the history of the NBA, Tim Duncan. Negative comments continued to follow the little fighter’s career. Muggsy started slowly, but for the last three years, he became the best assistant on the team and surprisingly, the third-best rebounder on the team.

In 1987 Muggsy was drafted by the Washington Bullets. Fans booed him in the draft, but they quickly realized that they have the tallest and the shortest players in the league on their roster.

It was quite sympathetic to the fans, but it was not to the coach who was barely giving Muggsy any playing time. After his move to Charlotte, Muggsy flourished with the Hornets.

Charlotte and Miami were the extension teams in the league in Muggsy’s second season. It was the Hornets who selected him in the expansion draft, together with Dell Curry.

Dell took him seriously. Muggsy himself says he has become a much more dangerous shooter. Curry coordinated his movement with Bogues’ passes and shot in milliseconds after getting the ball. They became a tandem that worked perfectly.

Muggsy spent ten full seasons with the Hornets making one of the NBA’s most beloved teams. Until the arrival of Larry Johnson, Charlotte was a team with a negative record. Rex Chapman and Kendall Gill were not enough for major results. Although Muggsy fed them with passes, Charlotte did not have enough depth to do something more in the East.

In Alonzo Morning’s rookie season, this team even reached the second round of the playoffs. From one of the worst teams in the conference, they became a legitimate contender for the title in the East. The five of Morning, Johnson, Gil, Wingate, and Bogues, along with the best sixth man, Dell Curry, made a real sensation in the playoffs defeating Larry Bird’s Celtics, but they were stopped in the semifinals by the Knicks.

After that season Muggsy was traded to the Golden State Warriors for BJ Armstrong. Armstrong’s influence wasn’t even close to the one Muggsy had, especially in the playoffs. Besides that, David Wesley wasn’t the floor general like Muggsy was and that was the end of that Hornets era.

The situation in Golden State was sad. Muggsy experienced seeing a player strangle the head coach when Latrell Sprewell grabbed PJ Carlesimo for the neck. A season to forget in which Muggsy played a partially important role.

As a free agent in the off-season, Muggsy signed for Toronto, where he was part of an exciting team led by the young, Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady. He was adored and respected in Toronto. In both seasons, the Raptors made it to the playoffs.

Finally, in 2001 Muggsy retired. He is not remembered only as of the shortest player in NBA history, but also as a leader, great teammate, and point guard who played his heart out every single night he stepped on the court.

If we look back at his career, he wasn’t just a role player. Moreover, during most of his career, he was the starting point guard. He has always been among the league’s leading assistants

On the all-time assists leaders, Muggsy is at the 23^rd place in the history of the league. If you think that looks impressive, read this. He is number one in NBA history in assist-turnover ratio.