© 2024 WFAE
90.7 Charlotte 93.7 Southern Pines 90.3 Hickory 106.1 Laurinburg
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Muggsy Bogues on his new book, career with the Hornets and more

Mark Warner, CC/Wikimedia Commons

Editor's note: This conversation originally aired April 25, 2022.

Muggsy Bogues was a one-of-a-kind NBA player. At 5’3” he was the smallest person in modern history to play in the league. However, his speed and basketball IQ allowed him to overcome whatever he lacked in stature to play in the NBA for 14 seasons.

Bogues' size was not the only adversity he had to overcome. He grew up in Baltimore as the population was on the decline and industry was leaving or had left. He saw the events that led to the drug epidemic which hit Baltimore and other U.S. cities. Drugs impacted his family as well. Both his father and brother had struggles with addiction. Even more, Bogues was shot when he was a child, from which he still has scars today.

At the same time, Bogues had loved ones and friends around who allowed him to focus on basketball. He went from Baltimore to Wake Forest to the NBA. He played for the Charlotte Hornets in their early years and became a fixture of the team. He made appearances in "Space Jam" and on "Saturday Night Live." Later, he coached the WNBA's Charlotte Sting . Even current stars considered small, like 6’2” Steph Curry, credit Bogues for showing them how to compete in a sport dominated by 7 footers.

Guest host Erik Spanberg speaks with Bogues about his life, his career in the NBA and his new book: “Muggsy: My Life from a Kid in the Projects to the Godfather of Small Ball”.

Guest:

Muggsy Bogues, former Charlotte Hornets star and author of “Muggsy: My Life from a Kid in the Projects to the Godfather of Small Ball”

Stay Connected
Gabe Altieri is a Senior Producer for Charlotte Talks with Mike Collins. Prior to joining WFAE in 2022, he worked for WSKG Public Media in Binghamton, New York.