Happy Birthday Muggsy Bogues: A look back at the Space Jammers Career

In 1999, Muggsy Bogues signed a contract to play with the Toronto Raptors, where he helped the team to their first ever playoff appearance in 2000. Though he only played in 83 games over two seasons for the Raptors, Bogues was a fan favourite, representing the group of guys (along with Antonio Davis, Charles Oakley, Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady) who came in at the end of the century to help make the Raps successful.

If players like Bogues had not been willing to come to the 416, there is a good chance the franchise would have gone the way of the Vancouver Grizzlies. The Grizzlies started at the same time as the Raptors (1995), but were forced to move to Memphis for the 2001/02 season after poor attendance records at home games. The Grizzlies also never won more than 23 games in a season. See what I mean?

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While Bogues was most certainly on the tail-end of his career when he join the Raptors, his contributions both on the court and off can’t be overlooked. Bogus helped make Toronto cool, and a more popular city to root for and play for. After all, he did make a significant cameo in Space Jam (1996), a film that helped cement the relative celebrity of elite basketball players. Apart from his short-lived acting career, Bogues was also known as the shortest player to ever play in the NBA, at just five-foot-three. So, let’s look at how the puny point guard found his way to the Raptors as a heroic 12-year veteran.

Bogues was drafted with the 12th pick by the Washington Bullets in 1987, part of a memorably strong draft class including Reggie Miller, Scottie Pippen and David Robinson. Bogues was then selected by the Charlotte Hornets during the 1998 NBA Expansion Draft. He played for 10 years in Charlotte, becoming one of the NBA’s fastest players and best passers. Bogues is still the Hornets’ career leader in minutes played (19,768), assists (5,557), steals (1,067) and turnovers (1,118).

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Bogues seemed to define his career by defying expectations. On April 14, 1993, Bogues earned a block on seven-footer Patrick Ewing, poking the ball away from the Hall of Famer while he was pulling the ball back to go up for a shot. He recorded 38 other blocks during his NBA career.

Bogues’ best season was the 1993/94 campaign, where he averaged 10.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 10.7 assists. Though it was his only double-double averaging season, Bogues’ numbers were actually pretty consistent throughout the rest of his career. Bogues’ successful tenure in Charlotte ended two games into the 1997/98 season, when he was traded, along with Tony Delk, to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for B. J. Armstrong. He played two seasons with the Warriors, before signing with Toronto.

I am proud to be a fan of the team Muggsy Bogues ended his groundbreaking career with. Though he was only in Toronto for a short period, he epitomized what being a Raptor is all about: working hard, surprising critics and meeting challenges (like Patrick Ewing) head on.

Happy Birthday Muggsy Bogues.