The photo of Muggsy Bogues next to Manute Bol is historically iconic. One of those that nobody forgets, something that the NBA knows how to handle very well within its constant narrative, one that has allowed it to expand to all parts of the planet. In this case, it is not for less; after all, then the Bullets (today Wizards) coincided with the shortest and tallest player in the history of the best League in the world. Bogues was at 1.60, while Manute was at 2.31. The first, who played in the point guard position (obviously) still holds the record, since no one has ever played a game in the North American competition with less centimeters. The second was surpassed by just a few millimeters by Gheorghe Mureşan, although his enormous size was the result of acromegaly, a disorder of the pituitary gland. One way or another, he owns the cap. Although at that time, said right belonged to Bol.
Bogues was a curious player because of his height, who was always followed by the cameras and who had many more photos next to basketball players who were taller than him. After all, they all were. Of course, he had a good career despite his height: he was able to easily get away from his defenders, he was precise in penetrating and had a special talent, inherent to his person, for the pass. Finding his teammates was something very simple for him, to which he added his security to protect the ball: just 1.6 turnovers on average in his career and only one season above 2. A great fact.
The litter that landed in the NBA in the 1987 draft was quite interesting. Before, Bogues passed the Dunbar Institute, in the city of Baltimore, where he shared a dressing room with either David Wingate (from a promotion prior to his), Reggie Williams or Reggie Lewis (from the same batch), future NBA players. After that he went to Wake Forest University, where he stayed for four seasons, going up in the third to 11.3 points, 8.4 assists and 3.1 steals per game and improving to 14.8, with 9.5 passes. and 3.9 steals in the fourth, in which he also grabbed 3.8 rebounds. Everything, remember, with 1.60 height.
He was selected in the 14th position of the draft by the Bullets, where he would coincide with the aforementioned Manute Bol. Along with him came several players who would later have many things to say in the NBA: David Robinson, Reggie Miller, Scottie Pippen or Kevin Johnson were chosen ahead of him, in addition to the well-known Horace Grant. Behind came Mark Jackson or Reggie Lewis. Notable names that wrote some pages of history in the following years, in which a Michael Jordan who dominated the competition in the 90s gradually emerged. You know, six rings in eight seasons, withdrawal and return… It is not necessary to say much either further.
The expansion draft
Bogues only spent one season with the Bullets, with whom he averaged 5 points and 5 assists per night in 79 games, just 14 starts. Afterwards, he set course for Charlotte… with an intermediate process in which he does not hurt to stop. During the 1988-1989 season, the NBA sought its permanent expansion and wanted two new cities to have a team, which is why two new franchises were born: the Miami Heat and the Charlotte Hornets. When this happens, existing entities can protect a maximum of eight players from each squad, while newcomers build their squad by choosing from those who have not been protected.
The Bullets did not have the base position covered, but they did not protect Muggsy, who entered together with the rest of the corresponding players in the so-called expansion draft, which took place on a distant June 22, 1988. The following year they returned to Give the same situation with the inclusion of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Orlando Magic. And in 1995 the Vancouver Grizzlies (today in Memphis) and the Toronto Raptors entered, bringing the NBA to Canada as well. In each of those expansions there was a draft and Muggsy benefited from one of them. Because yes, he wasn’t protected… but in Charlotte he became quite the hero.
icon in the hornets
Muggsy spent 9 of his 14 seasons with the Hornets, where he became a hero. His ability to pass and steal the ball, coupled with his short stature, allowed him to be one of the franchise’s biggest draws and one of the reasons fans of an emerging franchise had to go watch games. The beginnings are never easy, but the presence of Bogues helped to popularize the team despite the fact that there were, at that time, no particularly renowned players and that the process of going far in an Eastern Conference dominated first by the Pistons and then by Jordan’s Bulls was complicated. It also didn’t help that the NBA was in the process of enjoying the last years of Larry Bird, with those Celtics still on their last legs. Not that there was so much competition in the West.
The Hornets weren’t competitive in the ’90s, but they did manage to get their little dose of limelight. In 1989-90, Bogues went to 9.4 points, 1.7 assists and 2 steals per night. In 1992-93 they eliminated Celtics in the first round without Bird to lose to Pat Riley’s Knicks in the semifinals, but giving a great image, since three of the four defeats came by 4 or fewer points. He was the top of those Hornets, who had a roster that also included Dell Curry, Larry Johnson or Alonzo Mourning, who was already established as one of the pivots of the moment in an era dominated by big men (David Robinson, Patrick Weing, Shaquille O’Neal, Dikemembe Mutombo…) and that he averaged 21 points and 10.3 rebounds per game that season.
In 1994-95 the Hornets achieved their first 50-win season, which they went to 54 two years later. But they never made it past the semifinals and today they are still on the short list of teams (Pelicans and the Hornets themselves) that have never reached the penultimate round of the playoffs, the Conference finals. Muggsy gradually faded to prominence over the years and was traded to the Warriors at the beginning of 1997-98. In the Raptors he spent his last two seasons, although in the one that concluded his career he only played 3 games. The rights to him were later traded to the Knicks and Mavericks, but he never wore his jersey. Today, he remains in the memory.
Muggsy Bogues, with just 1.60m, played 14 seasons in the NBA, scored 6,858 points, distributed 6,726 assists and stole 1,369 balls. He barely shot three, but he had an ease for penetration and always managed to find his teammates. He went on to 889 games, 556 starts, and after his retirement as a player he worked in the real estate business until August 3, 2005, when he was named coach of the WNBA’s Charlotte Sting despite his lack of experience as a coach. He lost his job when the team disbanded in January 2007. Today, he remains an ambassador for the Hornets. A dwarf among giants and a truly meteoric career. Which is not little, of course.
2023-07-30 10:31:05
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