Bogues, NBA’s pocket wonder, to grace jr camp

MANILA, Philippines - Muggsy Bogues, the shortest ever player to see action in the NBA, is coming to Manila soon as part of NBA Philippines’ treat to fans attending its Jr. NBA camp, a program aimed at discovering talents from the provinces while promoting NBA awareness.

No less than NBA Asia Philippines boss Carlo Singson made the announcement on his Twitter account @SingsonCarlo of Bogues’ forthcoming arrival.

“Looking forward to welcoming NBA legend Mugsy Bogues to our Philippine shores,” said Singson.

Bogues, whose real first names are Tyrone Curtis, is listed as the NBA’s shortest player at 5-3 but saw action for 14 NBA seasons against the league giants while playing for the Washington Bullets, Charlotte Hornets, Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptors. He averaged 7.7 points, 7.6 assists and 1.5 steals.

Bogues, who was part of the elite 1987 draft class composed of David Robinson, Scottie Pippen, Reggie Miller and Kevin Johnson, was a member of the United States team that snared the gold in the 1988 FIBA World Championship in Spain. He is now into coaching at the United Faith Christian Academy.

Interestingly, Bogues once played alongside Manute Bol, one of the two tallest NBA players at 7-7 with the other being Gheorge Muresan, for the Washington Bullets in the former’s rookie season.

Bogues is one of two former NBA players scheduled to visit the country with 7-6 Yao Ming also set to bring his Shanghai Sharks for clinics and a couple of exhibition games against Smart Gilas Pilipinas II and a PBA selection in May.