In the league where the NBA is full of giants, in addition to technical clearance, your starting point talent also determines your future life trajectory, and I don't know from what time on, the NBA has become the exclusive of tall people in the hearts of fans, the height of the players is often 190, so that many teenagers with basketball dreams are discouraged, height in the hearts of basketball people, undoubtedly become a potential oppression, as if warning the players, as long as you are not tall enough, you are not worthy of playing basketball. However, where there is oppression, there must be resistance, and here it is necessary to mention one person, that is, Earl Boykins.
Earl Boykins (born June 2, 1976 in Cleveland, Ohio) is a former American professional basketball player who plays as a point guard, and his height of 5 feet 5 inches (1.65 meters) makes Boykins the second shortest player in NBA history after Tiny Boggs (5 feet 3 inches / 1.6 meters). How did he, who wasn't tall enough, not heavy enough, not muscular enough, stand in the NBA for so long?
When Boykins was a kid, his father took him to a Cavaliers game, and he stuffed Boykins into a training bag to escape. He began training basketball at the age of 4, but his hands were too small to hold a basketball, so his father had to give him a tennis ball to train. In his high school, he scored 50 points in a year of high school games against players who were much taller than himself, a game that shocked everyone, and that year he averaged 24.6 points, 4.4 assists and 4.9 steals per game.
During his freshman year, he was ordered by coaches to report his height to 5'7 because coaches would be ashamed to have such a small guard. Boykins later told his coach he would be the best player the school had ever seen, and he did. His college mentors have been encouraging him, averaging 26.4 points in all four games and setting a record for school history.
In the 98-99 season, Boykins received two consecutive 10-day short contracts from his hometown team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and then he was cut by the team, signed with the Nets, and then cut again. In the 99-00 season, Earl won two short 10-day contracts for the Cavaliers, signed by the Magic for the rest of the season, and was cut again by the team a month later. He's been signing contracts, getting cuts, signing contracts, and being cut endlessly repeating the process. Boykins later announced that he would never sign another short 10-day contract. In the 2-03 season, the Warriors needed Boykins' lightning speed and super scoring ability. So he signed a contract with the team for a full season, and as the first substitute point guard, he showed his full advantage, averaging 8.8 points and 3.2 assists at the end of the season.
Boykins' performance also earned him a generous contract, and in the 03-04 season, Boykins signed the rebuilding Denver Nuggets for 4 years and 13 million. Here, the new team gave him the greatest trust and allowed him to play his full strength. He was full of energy and became the team's most trusted scorer on the bench. The fans like him, his teammates like him, and the coaches like him. After taking over the old coach George Carr positioned him as the star striker Cameron. Anthony and KenJan Martin are the team's third main point of attack. He later became the league's top bench scorer, finishing 3rd in the Best Sixth Man selection. In the playoff series with the Spurs, he got the starting position.
Everyone knows that the advantages of small players are lightning speed and super flexibility. And 1 meter 65 Boykins is exactly the combination of these two advantages. After being covered by your teammates, as long as you let Boykins take the first step comfortably, then your inside line, those big men with muscles, will have to work hard. Boykins has unparalleled judgment, the big man comes up to cover, he will choose to flash past your waist, and when you turn around, he has thrown the basketball in with a skilled throw. The big man, jealous of his speed, chose to keep his distance, and he would not hesitate to complete the attack with a sharp stop jump shot.
Almost every player in the NBA is several times stronger than him, and all are taller than him. Players in his position score easily in constant shoving, which requires other teammates to protect Boykins regardless of their own fouls. Height is innate and cannot be changed by human power. But I would say that basketball relies not only on height, but also on a spirit, a spirit of hard work and not accepting defeat. And Boykins, he does not have any opponent tall, he can not resist the push of any opponent, but he still has the recognition of everyone, and the respect of everyone.