There are players whose influence on popular culture transcends their on-court impact by a wide margin. Muggsy Bogues doesn’t need any award or formal recognition to remain a staple of the collective memory as the shortest player ever to reach the NBA at 160 centimeters. Still, it’s never a bad idea for the Charlotte Hornets to retire his number ‘1’.
It isn’t a coincidence that the franchise arrived at this decision just months after trading away LaMelo Ball, who up to now had been its star and the bearer of that jersey during his first six seasons in the league.
The organization announced it with a video that shows a visibly emotional Bogues, who was surprised by the realization that he would not be filming a commercial but rather receiving a heartfelt surprise.
Bogues was part of the early chapters of the Hornets’ NBA journey, selected in the 1988 expansion draft. He would spend a little over ten seasons there before being traded to Golden State. He played a total of 632 games, averaging 8.8 points and 8.8 assists per game, helping the Hornets reach the playoffs on three occasions in those years and advancing past the first round of the Eastern Conference in 1993 after beating Boston.
Although he wore the uniform of other teams as well, his image remains forever linked to those Hornets teams led by Larry Johnson, Alonzo Mourning, and Dell Curry. A man of short stature can soar as high as the ceiling of an arena.
