Charlotte Hornets’ legend and the shortest ever NBA player Muggsy Bogues is one of the game’s cornerstones, he got his flowers from the NBA and players around the league including the Currys
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NBA TV recently released a documentary about Bogues titled “Muggsy: Always Believe” an installment to their Basketball Stories series. The documentary was aired on Nov. 20 on NBA TV and is now available to watch on NBA.com.
It was an honor due for a long time. Tyrone Curtis “Muggsy” Bogues’ aura was far bigger than the man himself, he is one of the biggest names in the city of Charlotte in terms of basketball.
Basketball was at the peak of its fame throughout the globe since Michael Jordan took over the NBA by storm. But it was known as a game for the tallest of people.
When six-footers were considered short guys in the game Bogues made hoopers realize that they just need the passion for the game rest of the things can be attained by the strong mentality and hard work. If one can be big on that like Muggsy was, no one is stopping you from having a career in any sport, not in basketball for sure.
Muggsy never let anyone in the basketball world ignore him for his 5’3 stature. The point guard was 12th overall in the 1987 NBA draft just behind Reggie Miller.
Stephen Curry calls 5’3 Muggsy Bogues Giant of the game
At the starting stages of probably his 3rd MVP season, Stephen Curry remembers the shortest guy of the NBA and how it felt to see him play on the court as a kid.
It wasn’t that he was starring in a lottery team. The only time four-time Hornets have gone past the first round in the Playoffs, Muggsy helped them there twice. He put up 8.8 points, 8.8 assists, and 1.5 steals per game during his 10 seasons with the Hornets. Always a double-double threat he even averaged a double-double throughout a season with 10.8 points and 10.7 assists.
Bogues is really indeed a giant as Steph says, the guy even averaged 4.1 rebounds in a season. A career 2.6 rebounder Muggsy averages more boards than many NBA players above 6’0. Even his friend and Steph’s father Dell Curry averaged 2.4 a game being 6’5.
Steph’s father Dell Curry was Muggsy’s teammate in Charlotte for more than a decade and they had a family-like relationship with each other. Curry brothers gravitated the most towards Muggsy in the Hornets locker room. While the little Currys enjoyed time around their uncle a lot they also learned a great deal of basketball from him.
NBA players had to adjust according to Muggsy, to not get dominated by the little dynamite. Steph Curry is similarly destroying defenders like his mentor and is taking it up a notch every season.
