To make the list of the shortest NBA players, a small guy must be good enough to make the world’s best basketball league.
1. Tyrone “Muggsy” Bogues
Tyrone Curtis “Muggsy” Bogues is an American former basketball player. The shortest player ever to play in the National Basketball Association, the 5 ft 3 in Bogues played point guard for four teams during his 14-season career in the NBA.
Although best known for his ten seasons with the Charlotte Hornets, he also played for the Washington Bullets, Golden State Warriors, and Toronto Raptors.
2. Earl Boykins
Earl Antoine Boykins is a former American professional basketball player. Standing at 5 feet 5 inches in height, he is the second-shortest player in NBA history behind Muggsy Bogues, who is 5 feet 3 inches tall.
He was the head coach for the Douglas County High School boys varsity basketball team. He is now serving as an assistant coach for the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) Miners.
3. Mel Hirsch
Melvin M. Hirsch was an American professional basketball player. He played for the Boston Celtics of the Basketball Association of America, which would later become the National Basketball Association, for 13 games in the 1946–47 season.
At 5 feet 6 inches tall, he was the shortest player in NBA history until Muggsy Bogues more than 40 years later. He is the third shortest NBA player of all time, after Bogues and Earl Boykins.
4. Spud Webb
Anthony Jerome “Spud” Webb is an American former professional basketball player. A 5 ft 6 in point guard, Webb played college basketball at Midland College and at North Carolina State University.
Webb is one of the shortest players in NBA history. He is known for having won the 1986 NBA Slam Dunk Contest. Webb has served as president of basketball operations for the Texas Legends, the NBA G League affiliate of the Dallas Mavericks, since 2010.
5. Keith Jennings
Keith Russell “Mister” Jennings is an American basketball coach, who formerly played professional in the National Basketball Association and overseas in European leagues.
Jennings, a 5’7″ (1.70 m) tall point guard, attended East Tennessee State University, for four academic years (1987–91). Jennings won the 1991 Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award, given to the outstanding collegiate senior six feet tall and under, and was a second-team consensus All-American.
