Basketball Shorts (Part 1)
Basketball seems like a sport that is dominated by freakishly tall people, who can make a slam dunk without even jumping, and this is somewhat true. The retired legend, Michael Jordan was 6 feet 6 inches tall, and Yao Ming is 7
feet and 6 inches tall. The current trend in the NBA is “Taller is better”. But, there were ten players who found a way to leap into the hearts of their fans, and into the history books for being excellent athletes as well as being short. Many people see the
size issue as a disability in the basketball world; however this is mostly not the case. Short players are usually faster than their gargantuan counterparts, and can zip across the court in a matter of seconds. Some can even jump higher too. Take a look at
Nate Robinson as an example. He was only 5 feet 9 inches tall and he managed to bag the 2006 Sprite Rising Stars Slam Dunk Contest by jumping over the 5 feet 7 inches tall Spud Webb of the Pistons. Webb himself was considered small in size compared to the
other players, but he used his speed and jumping ability to outplay everyone on the field. The following characters should be considered as an inspiration to all who are small in size. This article lists some of the shortest basketball players in the history
of the NBA (in no particular order).
Terrell Brandon
Terrell Brandon wasn’t the shortest basketball player in NBA history, but he was tiny enough to make the list (5 feet 11 inches). Brandon was born in Portland, Oregon where he attended Grant High School. Not only was he small,
he also suffered a chronic foot deformation. He was signed on as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1991, spending six years with them before playing for the Milwaukee Bucks. He was selected to play in the NBA All-Star Game, two years in a row (1996 and
1997). Sports Illustrated Magazine labelled Brandon as the best point guard in the NBA in their 1997 edition. He was also awarded the “NBA Sportsmanship Award” in 1997. After playing for the Cavaliers, Brandon changed teams to the Bucks. He played with them
for a short two years and was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves. He announced his retirement on March 9th, 2004. During the end of his career, Brandon managed to average 13.8 points, three rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.58 steals. He almost scored
10000 points in his career but was short by only six points. His name was included in the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.
Damon Stoudamire
Damon Stoudamire (5 feet 10 inches) is another short star of the NBA. Damon was born on September 3rd, in Portland Oregon. He was raised by his mother and his grandmother. He got into sports when he was influenced by
his uncle, who acted as a father figure and his coach. He played basketball for his high school team who he led to victory with a win-lose record of 74-4. He earned 2 Oregon Player of the Year awards and 1 Converse High School All-American awards in his senior
year. After a successful college career, Damon was drafted by the Toronto Raptors. It was when he started playing with the Toronto Raptors, he got his nickname “Mighty Mouse”. This was because of his small size and a tattoo of a cartoon character of a similar
name. He set the record of most three point field goals made by a rookie (133); however, this record has been broken many times since then. He also won a spot in the Schick All Rookie First Team and went on to achieve the rookie of the year award, making him
the shortest person in basketball history to do so. Damon was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers, in 1998. This put a stint in NBA statistics because he was benched for most of the time. He did, however get a huge amount of playing time in the playoffs that
season. On the 14th of January, 2005, Damon Stoudamire recorded his career high record of 54 points in a season, including 8 three-pointers against the New Orleans Hornets. In August 2005, Stoudamire signed a 4 year deal with the Memphis Grizzlies,
replacing Jason Williams. He is now part of the coaching staff of the Memphis Grizzlies.
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