Saturday, June 7

Sports Mole takes a look at the shortest player in the NBA for the 2024-25 season and the record shortest to play in the league throughout its entire history.

While basketball is arguably the only sport in which height matters the most, we have seen several athletes defy the odds and prove that being tall does not define one's ability to make it in the game.

Isiah Thomas, drafted second overall in 1981 by the Detroit Pistons, stood at 6-foot-1 but led the franchise to back-to-back NBA titles between 1989 and 1990, while being named Finals MVP in 1990 and finishing his illustrious career as a 12-time All Star.

Like Thomas, there have been several other short players to leave their mark on the league, including Spud Webb, who despite being the third-shortest player to grace the NBA at 5-foot-6, enjoyed a 12-year-long career and remarkably won the 1986 Slam Dunk Contest.

Below, Sports Mole takes a look at the shortest player currently in the league as well as the record shortest in its history.

---

WHO IS THE SHORTEST NBA PLAYER?

Standing at 5-foot-8, the Memphis Grizzlies rookie Yuki Kawamura is currently the shortest player in the NBA. After catching the eye in the 2024 Olympics with the Japanese national team, Kawamura signed with the Grizzlies on a training camp deal which eventually got converted to a two-way contract in October.

The 23-year-old, who began his playing career with Japanese side San-en NeoPhoenix back in January 2020, made his NBA debut on October 23 in a four-minute cameo against the Houston Rockets at the Toyota Center.

Kawamura takes over the record from former Cleveland Cavaliers guard Jacob Gilyard, who measured at 5-foot-8 with a 5-foot-10 wingspan. Gilyard featured for the Brooklyn Nets, Memphis Grizzlies and the Cleveland Cavaliers before completing a switch to German outfit BV Chemnitz in February.

---

WHO IS THE SHORTEST NBA PLAYER EVER?

While there have been nine players who measured 5-foot-7 and below in NBA history, the record for the shortest player to play in the league is held by Muggsy Bogues, who stood at 5-foot-3.

Drafted as the 12th overall pick in the 1987 NBA draft by the Washington Bullets (now Washington Wizards), Bogues enjoyed a 14-season career, featuring for the Bullets, Charlotte Hornets, Golden State Warriors, and the Toronto Raptors.

Despite his height disadvantage, Bogues scored a career-high 24 points and recorded 19 assists on three occasions while finishing his NBA career with 39 blocks, most notably one on 7-foot Patrick Ewing in a game between the Hornets and New York Knicks in April 1993.

Ten shortest players in NBA history

1. Muggsy Bogues — 5'3"

2. Earl Boykins — 5'5"

3. Spud Webb — 5'6"

= Mel Hirsch — 5'6"

= Greg Grant — 5'6"

6. Keith Jennings — 5'7"

= Red Klotz — 5'7"

= Wat Misaka — 5'7"

= Markquis Nowell — 5'7"

= Monte Towe — 5'7"

ID:554430:1false2false3false: from db desktop :LenBod:collect4996:

Collect / Create New Data