Retired Players I Loved To Watch #12 (He's the one on the right)

Muggsy Bogues

The one thing everyone knows about Muggsy is that he was the smallest player in NBA history. Standing at only 5'3," I'm a full five inches taller than him.

But that's beside the point. I think that little bit of useless trivia detracts from the great player that he was for well over a dozen years. Sure, it's impressive that such a short person was able to establish himself so well in such a tall game. But it's important to realize that Bogues wasn't noteworthy BECAUSE of his height, but DESPITE his height.

Throughout the 1990s, he was one of the greatest playmaking point guards in the league. For a good seven straight years, he maintained an average of about 9 assists per game. That's a staggering statistic. He was like a quarterback on the hardwood, he had that innate ability to constantly find the open man. Lots of players can platoon at the point guard position, competent enough to bring the ball upcourt, not turn it over, and occasionally make the right pass; in other words, they're good enough not to mess up too often. But Bogues was like a conductor of the offense, almost telepathically controlling how the other nine players around him -- both teammates and opponents alike -- moved on the court. Similar to the way Jason Kidd or Chris Paul or Deron Williams does it today, he's almost able to will the ball into tight spots, threading passes into angles that don't exist. That's the testament to a truly great point guard, making assists appear out of thin air, as if by magic. Pulling plays out of your butt, basically. That's something you really can't teach. With enough practice, I suppose players can get better at passing the ball. But they really can't learn how to become transcendent at it. You either have it or don't; it's a cliche because it's true.


He had his weaknesses -- poor long range shooter, got a lot of lay-up attempts stuffed at the rim, poor man-to-man defender -- but his unique combination of speed, vision, and leadership made up for any inherent, diminutive shortcomings. I was in a constant state of disbelief while watching him play; he just did things that someone of his size shouldn't be able to do.

And those teal, pin-striped Hornets jerseys were fresh as hell.

Muggsy Bogues career statistics