What Is Muggsy Bogues' Net Worth and Career Earnings?
Muggsy Bogues is a retired American basketball player, most well known as being "the shortest guy" in the NBA. Muggsy Bogues has a net worth of $14 million. Bogues was the shortest player to ever play in the NBA, measuring at 5 ft 3 in. By comparison, the average height of an NBA player is 6 ft 7 in.
Muggsy's career in the NBA lasted 14 seasons, during which time he played for four teams as a point guard. The most well-known period of his career was ten seasons with the Charlotte Hornets. He also played for the Washington Bullets, Golden State Warriors, and Toronto Raptors.
Career Earnings
During his career, Muggsy Bogues earned around $18 million in salary alone. After adjusting for inflation, that's the same as around $34 million in today's dollars. Muggsy earned several million more from endorsements.
Muggsy Bogues Height
How tall is Muggsy Bogues? Muggsy is famously the shortest player to ever compete in the NBA. He is 5 foot 3 inches tall.
In his rookie year, Bogues, the shortest player in NBA history, was a teammate of Manute Bol, one of the tallest players in NBA history. At 7 foot 7, Manute was 2 feet 4 inches (28 total inches) taller than Muggsy.
Could Muggsy Bogues Dunk?
Contrary to popular legend, Muggsy Bogues could not dunk. He could, however, touch the rim, which is a fairly impressive feat in itself.
Here is a photo of Muggsy and Manute standing side-by-side in 1987:
(Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
Early Life
Muggsy Bogues was born Tyronne Curtis Bogues on January 9, 1965, in Baltimore, Maryland. He is the youngest of four children. Muggsy grew up in the Lafayette Court housing projects, where he experienced a less-than-stellar childhood. At age 5, he was hospitalized after being struck by stray buckshot on the street. When he was 12, his father committed armed robbery and was sentenced to twenty years in prison. His brother, Chuckie, had also begun using hard drugs around this time.
In Baltimore, he played basketball for the Dunbar Poets at Dunbar High School. During Bogues' junior year, their team finished the season at 29-0, and then 31-0 in his senior season. The Dunbar Poets were ranked number 1 in the nation by "USA Today."
College Basketball
Muggsy Bogues would go on to receive multiple scholarship offers for college basketball, with various schools such as Virginia, Seton Hall, and Penn State displaying interest. He chose to attend Wake Forest University, where he played for 4 years. In 1986-1987, Bogues received the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award and led the Atlantic Coast Conference in steals and assists. During his senior year, he became Wake Forest's most valuable athlete and was given the Arnold Palmer Award.
At the 1986 FIBA World Championship, Bogues played for the USA national team under head coach Lute Olson. He played in every game and led the team in assists and steals, eventually winning them the gold medal.
NBA Career
In the 1987 United States Basketball League draft, the Rhode Island Gulls chose Bogues second overall. Muggsy played for only one season in the league, during which time he averaged 22.2 points and 8.4 assists per game. However, an ankle injury eventually ended his season.
In the 1987 NBA draft, the Washington Bullets selected Bogues 12th overall. This draft was full of talented athletes, including David Robinson, Scottie Pippen, and Kevin Johnson. On November 6, 1987, at Omni Coliseum, Muggsy Bogues made his NBA debut against the Atlanta Hawks. He led the team in assists.
In the 1988 NBA expansion draft the following season, Muggsy was left unprotected and so was swiped up by the Charlotte Hornets. It was reported by the Washington Post that Bogues had no problem with the Washington Bullets leaving him unprotected in the draft and that he was excited to play with the Hornets. He would go on to play ten seasons with the team, spending most of his time as a starter and eventually becoming one of the top players of the Hornets.
Bogues managed to turn the Charlotte Hornets into a serious contender, having previously been a mediocre NBA team at best. He led the team to the playoffs three times, making it very popular among basketball fans. In 1995, after playing for six seasons, he underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee, which placed him on the injured list three separate times in 1995-1996. In the end, he finished the season with only 14 points in six games and missed 17 games the following season.
The team's relationship with Bogues went downhill after the surgery, eventually leading to Muggsy being traded to the Golden State Warriors on November 7. From 1999-2000, Bogues played 80 games during the season. However, because of his chronic knee injury, he only played in 3 games during the 2000-2001 season. He played his last game on January 27, 2001. He was traded for Chris Childs and a 2002 first-round draft pick on February 22, 2001.
Bogues ranked 12th all-time in assists and 13th all-time in assists per game in NBA history at the end of his last season.
Relationships
Bogues had a daughter, Tyisha, when he was 17 years old. He then met his first wife, Kim, at a Dunbar High School alumni game in 1984. They got married in 1989, having had a daughter, Brittney, in 1987. They then had a son, Ty, in 1991. They divorced in 1997, but they remarried in 2015.
After the NBA
After leaving the NBA, Bogues went into real estate until 2005, when he became the head coach of the Charlotte Sting in the Women's National Basketball Association. He became the head coach of the United Faith Christian Academy boys' high school basketball team in 2011 but stepped down in 2014 to pursue other avenues.
On March 18th of the same year, he was named the Charlotte Hornets' Ambassador and participated in the team's rebranding.
He was an inductee to the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in January 2020.
TV and Film Appearances
Bogues appeared in the film "Space Jam" along with other famous NBA players, and he appeared on shows such as "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "Saturday Night Live," and "Eddie."
