By Basketball is a sport primarily for tall players. In fact, height plays an important factor and often tall players are selected to play the sport. But do you know that there are players who are under six feet and still managed to gain recognition for their size and abilities? While it’s rare to see short players, some made the cut to play in the most prestigious National Basketball Association (NBA).
Here are the 7 shortest basketball players in the NBA.
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Muggsy Bogues
Full name: Tyrone Curtis “Muggsy” Bogues
Born: January 9, 1965 (age 57)
Nationality: American
Position: Point guard
Height: 5 ft 3 in (1.60 m)
Muggsy Bogues is an American retired pro player. He is widely known as the shortest player to ever play in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Standing at 5 ft 3 in (1.60 m), he played the position of a point guard for four squads and spent his 14-season career in the NBA. He is best recognized for his 10 seasons with the Charlotte Hornets, he was also part of the Washington Bullets, Golden State Warriors, and Toronto Raptors.
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Earl Boykins
Full name: Earl Antoine Boykins
Born: June 2, 1976
Nationality: American
Position: Point guard
Height: 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Earl Boykins is an American retired pro basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). At 5 feet 5 inches in height, Boykins comes in as the second-shortest basketball player in the history of the NBA who is just behind Bogues at 5 feet, 3 inches tall.
Some of his accomplishments include winning the EuroChallenge championship in 2009, receiving the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award in 1998, AP Honorable mention All-American in 1998, and being a two-time First-team All-MAC in 1997 and 1998.
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Mel Hirsch 5’6”
Full name: Melvin M. Hirsch
Born: July 31, 1921
Died: December 1968 (aged 47)
Nationality: American
Position: Point guard
Height: 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Mel Hirsch was an American pro basketball player who played in the position as a point guard for the Boston Celtics of the Basketball Association of America (BAA), which is now popularly known as the National Basketball Association (NBA), for thirteen matches in the 1946–47 season. Standing at 5 feet 6 inches in height, Hirsch was the shortest player of his time until Bogues arrived to play the game after over four decades. He remains the third shortest NBA player of all time.
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Spud Webb
Full name: Anthony Jerome “Spud” Webb
Born: July 13, 1963 (age 59)
Nationality: American
Position: Point guard
Height: 5 ft 6 in (1.67 m)
Spud Webb is an American retired pro basketball player who played as a point guard in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is widely recognized for triumphing over a Slam Dunk Contest despite being one of the shortest basketball players in NBA history, standing at just 5 ft 6 in (168 cm) in height.
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Greg Grant
Full name: Gregory Alan Grant
Born: August 29, 1966 (age 56)
Nationality: American
Position: Point guard
Height: 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Greg Grant is an American former professional basketball player who played as a point guard in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is considered the fifth shortest basketball player in the history of the NBA. Some of his achievements include being CBA assists leader in 1995, NABC Division III Player of the Year in 1989, and a two-time First-team Division III All-American – NABC in 1988 and 1989.
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Keith Jennings
Full name: Keith Russell “Mister” Jennings
Born: November 2, 1968 (age 54)
Nationality: American
Position: Point guard
Height: 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Keith Jennings is an American retired basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and overseas in European leagues mainly in the position of a point guard. Some of his accomplishments include winning the French League Foreign MVP in 1999, French League Best Scorer in 1999, and Consensus second-team All-American in 1991. Jennings is among the shortest players to ever play the game.
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Red Klotz
Full name: Louis Herman “Red” Klotz
Born: October 21, 1920
Died: July 12, 2014 (aged 93)
Nationality: American
Position: Point guard
Height: 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Red Klotz was an American pro basketball player who played the position of a point guard in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the original Baltimore Bullets. Klots was widely recognized for assembling the squads that play against and tour with the Harlem Globetrotters such as the Washington Generals and the New York Nationals. He was one of the shortest players ever in the NBA.
Here’s the list of the Tallest Basketball Players in the NBA.
