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5′3″ NBA Legend Confesses He Wasn’t Intimidated by Players Like Michael Jordan and Isiah ThomasVishwesha KumarEssentiallySports
The East in the late 80s and the early 90s were stacked. There were the Bad-Boy Pistons, the New York Knicks were on the rise and also Michael Jordan and his Chicago Bulls were reaching their full potential. Among all these teams, there was one particular team that impressed everyone and one tiny player was not fazed by facing Jordan and Isiah Thomas.
The Charlotte Hornets were one particular team that made the playoffs a few years in the 90s and they were not an easy team to deal with. They had Alonzo Mourning, Larry Johnson, and Dell Curry. They also had the smallest player in the NBA History in Muggsy Bogues.
Muggsy was with the Hornets from their first year, and he stayed with them for 10 years. During his time, he was one of the best passers in the league and he would consistently finish in the top 10 in the league for assists.
Muggsy Bogues says it was great for him when he matched up against Michael Jordan and Isiah Thomas
Muggsy was recently on the All Smoke Podcast with Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes. He was asked what he thought about the physicality in the 90s, especially with all those great teams. Muggsy said, “Well, it was great for me. I didn’t have any problems with it. Probably people think because you’re small you probably have an issue… Nah, that’s how we played and that’s how we grew up”
He also said that his era had big buys camping in the lane. Back then, there was no 3-second rule, and centers and forwards would just sit in the paint to meet you at the rim. So it was hard for guards to get to the basket easily and score. Despite that, Bogues found a way to be effective, and he was a very good player.
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Muggsy also said that he was ready to take on Michael Jordan. He explained the story behind the iconic photo of Jordan and him. Jordan was on the baseline and the backed down Bogues. And when he went to take a jumper, Muggsy smacked it out of his hand. But that didn’t count as another player had committed a defensive foul. Be that as it may, Muggsy was always ready for the challenge and he did not back down when he was playing some of the legends of the game.
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