Who is the shortest player in the NBA?
Measuring in at 5-foot-3 makes Muggsy Bogues the shortest NBA player of all time. Bogues became the shortest player the NBA had ever seen and he is still the shortest player even after decades.
The Washington Bullets (now the Wizards) selected Tyrone “Muggsy” Bogues, a Baltimore native fresh off a four-year stint with the 12th pick in the first round of the 1987 NBA draft at Wake Forest University. Bogues was a lightning-quick point guard who was renowned for his accurate passes and propensity for squeezing through small defensive openings. He was not entirely unrelated to the fact that he was barely 5 feet, 3 inches tall.
Nobody has since beaten Bogues’ record for being the shortest NBA player, which he set at that height.
Bogues’ supremacy with the Bullets lasted for one season as he got picked by the newly introduced Charlotte Hornets. He enjoyed about a decade with Hornets before further moving to the Golden State Warriors and finally retired with Toronto Raptors after the 2000-2001 season.
Bogues shared his homecourt with fellow Bullet Manute Bol, 7-feet-6, who remained the tallest player in the NBA at that time. Both players stood together to feature a picture having both tallest and shortest players of the NBA in one frame.
Apart from his short stature, Bogues was well remembered for clocking maximum assists and steals in Hornets history. Many of his teammates have praised him as a scrappy trailblazer who challenged teammates and opponents to go beyond their typical strategies.
There are many other short players in the league who are still remembered as the most impactful player. In the early 2000s, Earl Boykins, who stands 5 feet 5 inches tall, played for various teams. In 1986, Spud Webb, who was only one inch taller than Boykins, won the NBA Slam Dunk competition. During the 1994–1995 season, he also had the best free throw percentage (around 93 percent). Muggsy Bogues still undoubtedly holds the record for being the shortest NBA player ever.
The shortest current basketball player is also well known among basketball fans. Isaiah Thomas, 5-foot-9, marks the current shortest player in the NBA. He played on the Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Mavericks, and Charlotte Hornets in the 2021-22 season. For now, he is a free agent.
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