Tyrone Curtis "Muggsy" Bogues was born January 9, 1965 in Baltimore, Maryland, where he was raised.
Bogues grew up in a tough neighborhood where he learned to play basketball. At Dunbar High School, Bogues was part of a team as a junior that went 29-0, and 31-0 his senior season, and ranked No. 1 in the nation by USA Today.
Bogues would attend college at Wake Forest University, where he would star. He averaged 11.3 points, 8.4 assists and 3.1 steals per game in his junior year, and followed that up with a season where he averaged 14.8 points, 9.5 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 2.4 steals per game. In 1986 he would play for the U.S. national team and win a gold medal at the FIBA World Championship.
With the 12th overall pick in the 1987 draft, the Washington Bullets made Bogues the shortest player ever to play in the NBA, standing just 5-foot-3. In that same draft class was David Robinson, Reggie Miller, Scottie Pippen, and Kevin Johnson.
Bogues never let his size hinder him in the NBA. He reportedly had a vertical leap of 44-inches and was quicker than most everyone on the court. He even blocked New York Knicks center Patrick Ewing once.
He is most famous for his time spent with the Charlotte Hornets, where he teamed up with Larry Johnson (pictured in the photo at the top) and Alonzo Mourning. Bogues is the Hornets' career leader in minutes played (19,768), assists (5,557), steals (1,067), turnovers (1,118), and assists per 48 minutes (13.5), according to Wikipedia.
Bogues also played for the Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptors, where he would retire in 2001. He finished his career with an average of 7.7 points per game, 7.6 assists, and 1.5 steals.
Happy 50th birthday, Muggsy.
