Tyrone Curtis "Muggsy" Bogues (born January 9, 1965) is an American retired basketball player. The shortest player ever to play in the National Basketball Association, the 5 ft 3 in (1.60 m) Bogues played point guard for four teams during his 15 season career in the NBA. He is best known for his ten seasons with the Charlotte Hornets, and also played for theWashington Bullets, Golden State Warriors, and Toronto Raptors. After his NBA career, he served as head coach of the now-defunct WNBA team Charlotte Sting.
After a brief stint playing for the Rhode Island Gulls in the USBL, Bogues was drafted 12th overall in the 1987 NBA draft by the Washington Bullets, and was part of a talent-laden draft class that also included David Robinson, Reggie Miller, Scottie Pippen, and Kevin Johnson. In his rookie year, Bogues was a teammate of Manute Bol who stood 7 ft 7 in (2.31 m) tall. They were the tallest and shortest players in NBA history at the time, with 28 inches (71 cm) difference between them. Bol and Bogues appeared on three magazine covers together.
Despite his height, Bogues managed to block 39 shots throughout his NBA span including one on 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) tallPatrick Ewing. This happened on April 14, 1993 in the first quarter when Ewing was pulling the ball back to go up for the shot and Bogues stripped him of the ball. Bogues reportedly had a 44-inch (110 cm) measured vertical leap, but his hands were too small to hold on to a ball to dunk one-handed. There have been rumors that in December 1990, Bogues dunked before the game, though this has never been confirmed.[5]
The Miami Heat and Charlotte Hornets were set to enter the NBA for the 1988–89 NBA season. Despite their weakness at the point guard, Bogues was left unprotected by the Bullets. On June 22, 1988 the Hornets selected him in the expansion draft. As Bogues settled in Charlotte, he established himself as an exceptional passer, a great stealer, and one of the fastest players on the court.
Bogues spent ten years in Charlotte as the Hornets, led by Alonzo Mourning and Larry Johnson, became one of the most popular teams in the NBA and a perennial playoff contender. Bogues was one of the most popular players in Hornets history, despite the fact that he never averaged more than 11.2 points per game in a season.