Hornets to retire the jersey of Muggsy Bogues, the shortest player in NBA history — SkimNews
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- Charlotte Hornets will retire Muggsy Bogues's No. 1 jersey on Feb. 11 and hang it in the rafters at Spectrum Center, making him the third Hornets player to have his jersey retired after Bobby Phills and Dell Curry.
- Calvin Murphy previously held the retired-jersey distinction at 5 feet 9 inches; at 5 feet 3 inches, Bogues becomes by a wide margin the shortest player in NBA history to have his jersey retired.
- Washington Bullets drafted Wake Forest star Bogues 12th overall in 1987; he began his career playing next to 7-foot-7 Manute Bol, then the NBA's tallest player.
- Charlotte Hornets claimed Bogues in the 1988 expansion draft after the Bullets left him unprotected, before the expansion franchise's inaugural season.
- Muggsy Bogues became Charlotte's full-time starting point guard in 1989-90 and held the post through 1997; although he never made an All-Star Team or averaged more than 11.1 points per game, he averaged double-digit assists on multiple occasions and is Charlotte's all-time steals leader.
- Space Jam featured Bogues as one of five then-active NBA players whose talent was stolen by the MonStars to face Michael Jordan and the Looney Tunes.
- Larry Johnson and Alonzo Mourning led Charlotte alongside Bogues to several postseason trips during the 1990s, the most successful era in Hornets history.
Why it matters: For the Hornets, the Feb. 11 ceremony makes Bogues one of only three players with a retired number, alongside Bobby Phills and Dell Curry. The material change is permanent: their rafters will pair the NBA's shortest player with a point guard whose career also included a memorable role in Space Jam.
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