Tyrone ‘Muggsy’ Bogues Refutes Narrative That Michael Jordan Interaction Ruined His Career

Tyrone ‘Muggsy’ Bogues was one of the most impressive stories in the NBA during his time. At a meager 5’3″, Muggsy Bogues is one of the shortest players to ever take the court. Though he found success during his time with the Charlotte Hornets, any have noted that an interaction with Michael Jordan derailed his career to the point of no return.

Tyrone ‘Muggsy’ Bogues denies Michael Jordan impact

Bogues denies such a narrative. ‘Muggsy’ gave an interview recently, where he denied that Michael Jordan trash-talking him caused his career to lose momentum. Muggsy called that narrative an asinine idea and something that has zero truth to it. He noted Jordan said nothing that he hadn’t heard his whole life, and he was used to it.

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“MJ supposedly called me a midget, ‘Shoot the ball, midget!’ and I shot the ball. And I supposedly had missed and that supposedly had an effect on my entire career? That’s one of the craziest, most asinine stories that you can hear. I think about all the stuff that I’ve been hearing all my life. And here it is, I’m what – I’m 10 years into my career already? And somebody says something and it’s gonna affect my career? It doesn’t make no sense.”

‘Muggsy’ unfazed by Jordan’s trash talk

Bogues added that it was actually a knee injury after the Jordan incident that derailed his momentum. He spent a significant amount of time on the shelf due to that injury. Further, the injury significantly hampered his ability to play, which is what changed his career. After his return, he became more of a role player and was asked to provide support from the bench.

“But what really happened was that my knee, they looked at some of my numbers after that series and I started having surgery on my knee and I had to stop playing. And when I missed the year and then I came back, my numbers had went down. And I guess they felt that my role had changed. I started now, coming off the bench for certain teams. I was 10 years into my career already and going forward.”

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How will Bogues be remembered in the NBA? ‘Muggsy’ provided inspiration for several young aspirants in the NBA. He showed that talent is what matters at the end of the day in the NBA, not your size. Since then, many undersized players have joined and been successful in the NBA, albeit not as small as ‘Muggsy’ himself.