Disclaimer: This story has been fabricated many times so I actually took the liberty of my time to research if Muggsy ever denied the situation. I have found him asked about the situation and he always answers that it's a part of basketball and trash talk was a part of the game.
Muggsy Bogues could be referred to as the most inspirational story for any kids who is trying to make it to the NBA. Shoot, he inspired me that I could play in the NBA. Although, as I watched Muggsy highlights on Youtube and ran downstairs to tell my parents I'm going to the NBA, I was denied like Yao Ming would deny a shot from Muggsy. Life is hard for short people, I digress. He really did set the prime example for "anything is possible" as Kevin Garnett yelled after winning his first championship. Muggsy played 10+ years in the NBA, managed to average 8 points and 8 assists in 14 years on 4 different teams. Sure, it's not Hall of Fame numbers but he for sure wasn't a scrub out there on the court. He earned his minutes and showed people that you can do anything.
Michael Jordan was as insane as it gets. He was the harshest trash talker on the court, he intimidated his opponents, his teammates, the referees, and even the guy who comes on the court to sweep the sweat and make sure players don't fall. It was bad for you if you had to play against MJ or didn't have him on your side. He was going to make you pay and make you wish you never tried to throw that paper ball in the trash can with Michael around. It was so bad that there's even a story where Kobe and MJ went at it with trash talk that nobody knows about which truly shows how insane and how far he would go with trash talk. (That will be shared in a post soon of course.) Yeah, that's how psychotic he was with his fear factor, and his fear factor has not gone away.
The Bulls were playing against the Hornets in the NBA playoffs and it's 2-1 in the series. Jordan had been having a rough year and wasn't playing his absolute best but nevertheless, it's Michael Jordan and you still feared him like no other. Jordan had been killing them in the series as he dropped 48 and 32 in consecutive games but the Hornets were definitely putting up a fight. There was one possession in game 3 where the Hornets appear to move the ball, show some solid ball movement and eventually work the ball around to Muggsy in the corner. He has MJ guarding him, the game is close, there's about 4 minutes left, and this is a big shot for Muggsy. MJ sort of slacks off on the shot and gives him some space as Muggsy sets up to shoot. Muggsy pulls up, and as he's shooting the rock, MJ yells "Shoot it, you freaking midget". He definitely didn't say freaking, I just don't think I can say that word but it's typically replaced with freaking. You get the point. He went ahead and missed the shoot. After this moment in time, he never averaged more than 10 points in a season and he never averaged 8 assists a game from that point on. In fact, he only averaged 5 points and 5 assists from that point on, the last 8 seasons he played in the NBA. Muggsy reportedly told a coach that ever since that moment, he lost his confidence. Damn.
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