He Broke Every Rule

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Today’s story comes from a very special guest.

James Stafford is the author of Unbelievable Underdogs and Rebellious Role Models: Sporting Heroes Who Defied the Odds and Shocked the World.

It’s an emotional roller coaster through some of the greatest upsets & shocks in the history of sports, including this one…

“Life for us was never easy."

Before he could make history, he first had to survive long enough to do it.

Let’s dive in 👇

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How 5'3" Muggsy Bogues Became the Shortest Player in NBA History

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"He was the type of kid that you couldn’t tell him no. He was always determined that he was going to be whatever he wanted to be." – Sherron Bogues, sister of Muggsy Bogues

Few sports are as packed with physical giants as basketball. Today, the average height of players in the NBA is over 6 feet 6 inches.

There are plenty of players well over 7 feet and the tallest NBA players of all time, Manute Bol and Gheorghe Muresan, were 7 feet 7 inches.

It’s a Goliath league without room for many Davids.

Which is why the odds-defying career of Tyrone Curtis ‘Muggsy’ Bogues is worth celebrating.

At 5 feet, 3 inches, he is the shortest player in league history.

In fact, there have only ever been 26 players in the history of the NBA 5’9” or shorter. Just making it there was a testament to Muggsy's heart.

Yet Bogues was so good he lasted 14 seasons in a league where the average career length is under five years.

But before Bogues could make it there, he first had to fight to live long enough to grow up and play pro basketball.

Born in Baltimore, he grew up in the Lafayette Court housing projects.

Life was hard and dangerous.

When he was just five years old, Bogues was hit by a stray buckshot fired randomly by another resident. He was hit in the arms and legs and had to be hospitalized.

When he was just 12 years old, his father was imprisoned on a 20-year sentence for armed robbery.

Muggsy's older brother was also taking drugs and once, in an event that would haunt him for many years, Bogues witnessed a local man being beaten to death.

He even saw someone shot dead on a local basketball court.

There was nothing stable or safe about the world he lived in.

To survive in such a world is an achievement in itself. To thrive in it borders on the miraculous.

Bogues later spoke of his early years, saying: "Growing up in the ghetto was often terrible. Inner-city life is harsh. I can’t lie about that. Life for us was never easy."

Thankfully, his athletic ability offered hope of a way out of the danger and misery around him.

As a youngster, he excelled at basketball, baseball, and wrestling, despite constantly being mocked over his stature.

He earned his nickname ‘Muggsy’ on the local basketball courts he played on, being named after a character from the East Side Kids films about city gangs.

In pickup games, he was either picked last or not at all.

"No one knows how big your potential is – how big your heart is – when you start."

When he wasn’t playing ball on the local courts, Muggsy and his younger siblings would play at home too.

They built a hoop in the house from a clothes hanger and would use socks as an improvised ball.

Muggsy knew how to turn his height to his advantage. After all, ever since he first picked up a basketball he’d always been the smallest guy on the court.

"As I got older, everyone kept growing except me," he once wrote.

"Eventually I realized my parents were also pretty short, so I wasn’t going to get much taller. So from an early age, size became a motivating factor. Being short made me fearless as a player, [and] I set out to prove everyone wrong. I let everyone I guarded know they would always feel my presence. Getting up underneath them, never letting them relax. They even became fearful just to dribble, because I could be so disruptive."

Bogues’s skill on the court and success in high school basketball netted him a scholarship to Wake Forest University where he proved all the inevitable doubters wrong.

As a senior, he averaged 14.8 points a game and set all-time Atlantic Coast Conference records in assists (781) and steals (275).

In 1987, Bogues was picked 12th overall in the NBA Draft by the Washington Bullets.

The selection of someone who would be the shortest player in league history was greeted with skepticism by many experts in the press.

"The biggest problem Muggsy will have is when he sits on the bench, his feet won't hit the floor," said Seattle SuperSonics scout Tom Newell.

When he made his debut at point guard, one of his teammates was Manute Bol who, at 7'7", was as tall as anyone who has ever played in the NBA.

It was quite the contrast.

The media loved it and the pair were often asked to pose together in photographs and would feature side by side on magazine covers.

“Nothing can get to me – the criticism, the compliments," Muggsy told The Washington Post.

"It will build – 'I know he's not going to make it, he's too small, they're paying him all that money and he's making a fool out of himself.' That still wouldn't break me. I know it in my mind. I can play this game as well as anybody."

Bogues started just 14 games in his rookie year, but still led his team in assists and steals.

The following season, he was acquired by the newly formed Charlotte Hornets. He nailed down a starting role, remained a Hornet for a decade, and became key to the fast-paced offense the team played.

His fast footwork, low center of gravity, surprising strength, and blistering speed helped set him apart.

Many players dreaded having to bring the ball up the court with Bogues in their way.

Not only was he a pesky defender, but when he stopped an attack he was a devastating counter-attacker, who could steal the ball and zoom down the court so fast it left bewildered players feeling like they had been pickpocketed by a ghost.

He told his teammates that when he had the ball they better get running down the court as he'd always find them to give them a shot.

Glen Rice, one of his Charlotte teammates, said Bogues had the heart of a lion.

Indeed, the numbers bear his confidence out.

During his NBA career of 889 regular season games, he notched 6,726 assists (7.6 per game).

When he left the Hornets, Bogues was the league’s all-time leader in assist-to-turnover ratio, proving just how vital he was to his team. In his later years, he wrapped up his career with stints on the Warriors and Raptors.

Altogether, Muggsy scored 6,858 points and claimed 1,369 steals.

While he never got to play for a championship team, he is undoubtedly an all-time NBA great and one of the sport’s most iconic players.

Teams that faced him always had to adjust their game plan to try and ensure they could limit his impact. His longevity in the league is a testament to his abilities and work ethic.

Muggsy's place in pop culture was secured when he was chosen to star alongside the likes of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Michael Jordan in the 1996 blockbuster film Space Jam.

Off the court, he took care of his loved ones.

Bogues had his elder sibling, Chuckie, move in with him to help him overcome his addiction to drugs. And Chuckie credits his brother for saving his life.

That’s a legacy even greater than anything he did on the basketball court.

🐶 

Today’s story was written by James Stafford, author of Unbelievable Underdogs and Rebellious Role Models.

Go buy it on Amazon today!

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Til next time,
Tyler

Extra Innings…

👀 In case you missed it: After sitting on the bench for all of high school, he gave up on basketball and spent 4 years working as a mechanic. But his life changed when a customer walked into his tire shop to ask a simple question.

🏈 Amari Griffin is a high school QB looking for a college opportunity. Check out his highlight tape here.

⚾️ Here’s how a draft afterthought who almost quit baseball became one of the best hitting catchers in the league.

🌟 Trivia Answer: B) 17 – it took three weeks to pull off this complex deal.

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