Basketball Shorts (Part 3)
Wataru Misaka
Fourth on the countdown to the shortest basketball player in the history of NBA is Wataru “Kilo Wat” Misaka. Born in Utah, Misaka was NBA’s (known as the NAA back then) very first player of Asian descent. He played for the University
of Utah where he led his team to the 1944 NCAA as well as the 1947 NIT championships. Even though he was a miniscule 5 feet and 7 inches short, he was seen as a valuable addition to the team. He was picked out by the New York Knicks. Unfortunately Wataru had
a very brief career (he only played 3 games before he was removed from the team).
Anthony Jerome Webb
Anthony Jerome Webb, commonly known as “Spud”, was born on July 13th, 1963 in Dallas, Texas. Webb’s story to stardom is perhaps the most inspirational in this list. He was born to a small and poor household. He used
basketball as an inspiration to break free. He was not as tall as the other children, but was a lot faster and had an awesome jumping ability which he used to his advantage. He played on the junior varsity team and made a name of himself. Even though he had
a successful career in the sport during high school, Webb had a hard time finding a college that would accept him. This was due to his height which was 5 feet and 7 inches. He settled down in Midland College, where he led his team to win the junior college
national title in 1982. He also led all the scores in that game. This sparked the interest of magazines such as Sports Illustrated, and also helped him gain the attention of the nation. Webb was drafted into the NBA in 1985 by the Detroit Pistons, though
he had his best statistics whilst playing for the Sacramento Kings (1992 – 1995). He also had a split season with the Atlanta Hawks and the Minnesota Timberwolves. Webb played his last season with the Orlando Magic and retired from basketball in 1998. During
his time playing basketball, Spud Webb also won the 1986 Slam Dunk Contest. He was also a judge in the recent 2010 Slam Dunk Contest.
Earl Boykins
Earl Boykins is currently the second shortest basketball player in the history of basketball at 5 feet and 5 inches. Boykins has a strange career in terms of basketball. He was never drafted by any of the NBA teams but signed to
different short-term contracts. He spent most of his time with the Denver Nuggets (playing for them from the 2003-2004 season till the middle of the 2007-2008 season). In 2004, Boykins scored 32 points, winning the game against the Detroit Pistons. This made
him the shortest player in the history of NBA to score 30 or more points while playing a game. Being an “unrestricted free agent”, Boykins left the NBA to play basketball in Europe. He signed a one year contract with Virtus Bologna, a basketball club in Italy.
There he became the highest paid basketball player in the Italian League (he could not do this in the NBA due to salary cap restrictions). He left Virtus Bologna in 2009 to return to the NBA and play for the Washington Wizards and help them attain victory.
Muggsy Bogues
Finally, at number one on our list, the shortest player to ever grace the courts of the NBA, Muggsy Bogues at the microscopic height of 5 feet 3 inches; He was born in Baltimore, Maryland on the 9th of January, 1965.
He was the former coach of the Charlotte Stings of the WNBA. Bogues started his career of playing basketball in high school. He moved on to play for four years for Wake Forest University. In 1986, he played for the US national team in the FIBA World Championship
and won a gold medal. He was drafted by the NBA in 1987 by the Washington Bullets. Other players to be picked that year were David Robinson, Reggie Miller, Scottie Pippen and Kevin Johnson. Even though he was really small, Bogues was able to block 39 shots
of full sized athletes (including Patrick Ewing). He was also a teammate of Minutes Bol (NBA’s tallest player), and were featured in three magazine covers together. Bogues also spent ten years with the Charlotte Hornets. It was during this time, the Hornets
became the most popular teams of the NBA (Bogues was one of the most famous players in the team). He leads in the number of minutes played, assists, steals and turnovers, in the history of the Hornets. Bogues was traded in the beginning of the 1997-1998 season
with the Warriors, and then signed as a free agent with the Toronto Raptors. This was his last season as a basketball player.
These little basketball players truly made a statement in NBA history. Clearly bigger is not necessarily better. If there is one thing we must have learnt, it is that if the goal seems to be very high, one just has to jump higher
to attain that goal.
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