"I'm going to play basketball, I'm going to play basketball in the NBA!" - A heroic declaration of a 1 meter 6 small man.
Basketball is a giant's sport. "Cardinal" Auerbach, who has brought 16 championships to the Celtics, has said height is something a coach can never give to a player. If you want to play in the NBA, in addition to having a height that is different from ordinary people, you must also have a talented athletic ability.
In 14 seasons, he averaged 7.6 points and 7.7 assists per game in his career — a number that didn't look eye-catching compared to star players, but he was nominated for the NBA Hall of Fame after retiring.
He is Tyrone Bogues, who is only 1.6 meters tall.
Tini Boggs' signature jersey
In middle school, the diminutive Boggs often told friends that when he grew up, he would go to the NBA to play. But there was no short player in NBA history at the time who was only 1.60 meters tall.
Boggs himself admitted: "I didn't have much confidence in getting into the NBA, but my relatives said I could. To be honest, I believe in my own strength, and the NBA isn't just a 7-foot guy who can get in because I can shoot, assist, steal, and when it comes to fast offense, some big guys don't run as fast as I do. ”
Boggs is a well-deserved C star on the Dunbar High School basketball team
Many people are not familiar with Boggs' real name Tini, but with the nickname "Muggsy". The nickname "Robber" Muggsy spread when he was 7 years old, referring to his aggressive style of play.
Although not tall, Boggs has its own unique advantages, such as speed, good dribbling, good steals and few mistakes. Height did not weaken Boggs' defense. Because of Boggs' good defensive attitude, many players have been defended by Boggs, and praised Boggs' defense as a dexterous mosquito, and if he is not careful, he will break the ball.
Boggs and teammates
From the NCAA to the NBA, Boggs, whose height cannot match the team, has always been able to stand shoulder to shoulder with his teammates with his strength
Boggs has not won a signature shoe in his career, and the sneakers he chooses are basically mid-range team shoes, but the low-key and practical sneaker taste has always been the same.
The different endorsement brands from Converse to Reebok to Nike aptly reflect Boggs' humble character and strength.
Let's take a few of these fragments and tell the story of Boggs's sneakers.
In college, Boggs was selected for the U.S. men's basketball team in 1986 and helped the team win the gold medal at the World Championships. With his college performances, Boggs was selected by the Washington Bullets with a high pick of 12th place in the first round at the 1987 draft.
In his rookie season, the shortest Boggs in NBA history and the tallest Manute Bol became teammates and became the topic of the league.
Ball and Boggs were on the cover of magazines several times, and the bullets were famous for their most cute height difference in history
Boggs in his rookie season chose CONS, the team style that Converse was playing at the time.
This sneaker with Y-Bar support technology and elastic upper padding structure can also be regarded as a brother style of Weapon, not only has many NBA celebrity endorsements, but also excels in lightweight performance.
Boggs has experimented with both low-top and high-top versions, which shows the recognition of this shoe.
CONS kicked off Boggs' career and heralded the dawn of Converse's new CONS brand era
In 1988, the Heat and Hornets joined the league, because Boggs rookie season was mediocre, the Bullets put Boggs on the free list, so Boggs was selected by the Hornets in the expansion draft, becoming one of the hornets' most famous five Tigers when the Hornets started, and thus began a ten-season "Soldier Bee" career.
The ERX 300 Low (left) and the "team logo shoe" NBA II Hornets Mid (right) are representatives of the classic team shoes of that year
From his second season to the Hornets, Boggs finally adjusted to the rhythm of the NBA and began to show his "robber" style. "Basketball games are only 20 percent above the basket, the rest of the time is in the hands of the players," Boggs said, "and that's when I play offensively."
With precise assists, efficient offense and ferocious steals, the 1.6m small player gradually secured the Hornets' starting point guard position.
Signing Reebok also gave him an impressive sneaker journey with the brand.
Boggs is tough and tough, and although he is short, he is not afraid to fight. The huge difference in height and weight, he tried his best to make up with his strong limbs. Due to his responsiveness, he became the league's top steals master.
In the 92-93 season, he chose the Reebok Pump Vertical Mid, part of Reebok's classic Above The Rim series, with Hexalite Honeycomb cushioning technology on the back palm and a Pump inflation system on the tongue.
In the NBA, Boggs is a misplaced defense against any opponent, so he is never afraid of challenges from any type of player
Reebok Pump Vertical Mid
A number of interior fighters, including "Rain Man" Kemp and "Big Bug" Rodman, were also used that year.
In 1995, Boggs received the Best Inspiration Award at the Fourth Jim Thorpe Awards for Best Inspiration in recognition of his pioneering achievements in the NBA as a 1.60-meter small man.
The Reebok Instapump Vertical IV. Mid he used this season is still from the Above The Rim series.
Boggs was wearing Reebok Instapump Vertical IV. Mid
The Reebok Instapump Vertical IV has a cutout design at the ankle, cushioned by the Hexalite hive at the back, and an Instapump rapid inflation system on the tongue.
Reebok Instapump Vertical Ⅳ Mid
This pair of seemingly simple appearances, but in terms of configuration and performance are outstanding sneakers are also reebok's highest appearance in the league that year.
Boggs has delivered a total of 39 blocks throughout his career, and the incredible "Block of the Century" against 2.13m Hall of Fame center Ewing made him the league's most popular star player.
Reebok also saw Boggs' appeal among fans, specifically choosing him as the chief spokeswoman for the new staple shoe Swingman.
Like cons endorsed in the debut season, Swingman is also a team shoe representative of high, medium and low-top all-round attacks
In the face of Boggs' defense, as strong as Jordan does not dare to slacken off, and Jordan was invited to participate in "Space Slam Dunk" also proves the recognition of Boggs by the "god of basketball" from the side.
Although it belongs to the same Above The Rim series of team shoes and is only equipped with the rear palm hive cushioning technology, Reebok Swingman has created a new trend of customized sneakers with the unique design of the heel scribble embroidered number.
The followed custom number is similar to the numerical display principle of the calculator, and can be composed differently by coloring different embroidery lines
In the 94-95 season, along with the advertisement for his image, Reebok Swingman also became a witness to the peak of Boggs' career.
During the Wasp era, Boggs became the strongest auxiliary force around Larry Johnson and Mourning. The Hornets Iron Triangle, made up of three of them, led the new Hornets of the league into a team to be reckoned with.
Due to Larry Johnson's feud with Mourning, the Iron Triangle was eventually broken up, and Boggs was replaced by Glenn Rice and Divac. With Boggs' help, the lineup turmoil didn't affect the Hornets, who remained a stabilizing force in the playoffs.
In the 96-97 season, the Reebok Avant Guard Mid used by Boggs adopted the Hexalite Honeycomb Technology, which is still a model used in many users in the NBA, and the most representative star is drexler of the "Glider".
One referee once said: "He only makes mistakes when he doesn't pass the ball well, you can't snatch the ball from his hand". As a result, he became one of the best point guards in history to control a mistake. In eight of his 14 seasons of career, he had the highest assist-to-turnover ratio in the NBA.
In the 96-97 golden season, Boggs also tried another team shoe endorsed by many Reebok players at the time, the Ragin Mid.
In addition to the large-area visible Hexalite hive technology on the heel, this shoe also added a side window hive unit similar to the chase on both sides of the midsole, and I believe that many post-80s generations are deeply impressed by it.
The Reebok Ragin Mid is One of Reebok's most classic mid-range team shoes in the post-hive era.
Reebok Avant Guard Mid
As he grew older and more injured, Boggs' competitive form inevitably began to decline, and after only two games in the 97-98 season, Boggs was packaged and sent to the Warriors, ending his 10-year history with the Hornets.
To this day, Boggs still leads the Charlotte Hornets in the history of the total playing time of 19768 minutes, a total of 5557 assists, a total of 1067 steals, a total of 1118 mistakes, Boggs's historical position in the Hornets is self-evident.
In the last season of the Hornets, Boggs had mVP sneakers, simple color matching with translucent outsole foot is called "small fresh"
Boggs' two seasons with the Warriors, the overall performance is no longer as brave as it was then.
After his contract with Reebok expired, he also tried small brands of sneakers like APEX, but soon switched back to Reebok Ragin Mid.
Apex sneakers, endorsed by "Postman" Malone, also had a relationship with Boggs
Although the endorsement contract has expired, Reebok Ragin is still deeply favored by Boggs. It can be seen that Boggs still hopes to cooperate with big brands with more guaranteed performance of sneakers in order to reduce injuries and extend their careers.
Reebok Ragin
In the 99-00 season, the 35-year-old Boggs joined the Toronto Raptors as a free agent. At this time, he once again became the leader of the new army of the alliance, teaching experience to the young people in the team.
Choosing to work with Nike also allowed him to try out a number of little-known high-performance team shoes in the final years of his career.
The front and rear palm large-capacity visual Air Sole air cushions were the most cost-effective practical configuration of Nike team shoes at that time, and the Air Holistic Uptempo, Air Flight Vroomlicious and Air Team Unite selected by Boggs this season are also high-performance team shoes with this configuration.
Air Holistic Uptempo was worn by Boggs from the Golden State to Toronto, and the performance was unquestionable
Air Team Unite is Boggs' favorite Nike shoe, and although the shape is not bright, it perfectly interprets the practical style of team shoes
Air Flight Vroomlicious adds a bit of fun to the reunion of the two Hornets at the Raptors
Nike Air Flight Determination, with the front foot built-in Air Sole and heel double air chamber max Air, and adds a hot-cut support strip and gradient color design to the upper. It became Boggs' last sneaker memory in the NBA.
Ending his player era with the most "beautiful" Flight sneakers of his career does have a hint of sadness of "looking back on the dust and dust of dreams".
Air Flight Determination put a "gorgeous" end to Boggs' sneaker career
Former Hornets coach Alain Bristol said: "The NBA may have Bird again, but there will never be Boggs again, and there has never been a professional basketball player as short as he is, but so good." With his indomitable will, this little man won the respect of his opponents and fans.
Although he is the shortest player in the NBA, Boggs has done a lot of miracles in his 14-year career and inspired many short players with his own story.
While not a career star, Boggs is definitely one of the NBA's most influential players.
This article is written by "iSNKRS", special author Geng Wei
Except for the "Snicker" watermark image, the rest of the pictures are from the Internet
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