Muggsy Bogues Reflects on Breaking Barriers Ahead of Hornets Jersey Retirement

The Hornets surprised Muggsy Bogues this week with the news that the organization will retire his jersey on February 11, 2027, when the Hornets host the Milwaukee Bucks.

"This is something that I wasn’t expecting. Grateful for it. Thankful for it," Bogues said. "I never think about things like this. You just play the game. A dream you have in your head for so long, just trying to get that across and trying to be accepted."

on february 11th, we will honor the one & only muggsy bogues. 🐝

press release: https://t.co/gq6cYbwKM9 | @MuggsyBogues pic.twitter.com/jJ8zkefsWq
— Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) October 27, 2026

Muggsy broke down barriers as the shortest player in NBA history at 5'3", something that many people during his era felt was impossible.

"During our era, trying to break down barriers because they had a stipulation on what that position called for. I just wanted to play basketball. Just so happened that folks had their own belief of what a person should look like and how they should be to pursue that game of basketball. Folks thought it should only be played by bigger and taller players and the position I chose to play or it chose me in terms of position wise."

During his press conference with the media, Bogues recalled a moment from his teenage years that motivated him even more to prove people wrong.

"When I was 14 years old that’s when I first heard about Magic Johnson, so being compared to someone that size saying you shouldn’t, you can’t, don’t even waste your time, just motivated me just to go out there and want to be accepted," Bogues explained. "The way I approached the game was play against the best, have success against the best, need to be included with the best."

Before his NBA days, Bogues attended Dunbar High School, where he was coached by Bob Wade and teammates with David Wingate, Reggie Williams, and Reggie Lewis, all of who went on to play in the NBA.

When asked about his beginnings and the high school program that shaped him, Bogues became emotional.

"So many people have reached out. I think the older I get the more emotional I become. I can’t believe this," Bogues said as he teared up. "Coach Wade has been like a father to us. He just laid it all out in terms of where it all started and where I come from."

Bogues expects a number of people from his Dunbar days will join him on his jersey retirement night.

Bogues played collegiately at Wake Forest University and was drafted 12th overall in the 1987 NBA Draft. He went on to play 14 seasons in the NBA, including 10 with the Charlotte Hornets.

While there are too many memories to pick just one from his time playing with the Hornets, Bogues reminisced about the days at the Coliseum and how the fans supported them all the way back to the team's first game on November 4, 1988.

all love for muggsy 🫶 pic.twitter.com/svbERRJ45V
— Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) October 29, 2026

"From the very first day that we played on Tyvola Road at the Charlotte Coliseum, playing against the Cleveland Cavaliers where we lost by 40 points the first day, but we knew how special it was when the entire stands stood up and gave us a standing ovation," Bogues said. "We knew then this was a very special place to be and very special city to play in. We had their support for so long. We sold out the arena on Tyvola Road for 9 straight years. Leading in attendance."

Another memory that Bogues reflected on was the team's first playoff series win, defeating the Boston Celtics 3-1 in the 1992-93 Eastern Conference First Round.

"That 5th year that’s when we really truly started to excel. That 4th and 5th year we took tremendous steps and in that 5th year we were fortunate enough to make the playoffs and derail one of the major elite franchises in the Boston Celtics," Bogues said. "Being our first playoff series win that year just created the momentum moving forward. It was very special the things we were able to do. We weren’t fortunate enough to make it to the Eastern Conference Finals, but we had a lot of talent, and we just felt like they gave up on us a little too early."

Now, one year after the organization retired Dell Curry's No. 30 jersey, Bogues' No. 1 jersey will join his former teammate in the rafters. Two of the original Hornets and their history, together forever, for fans new and old to see each time they enter Spectrum Center.

"That’s a special bond right there with he and I because we came here in 1988. I was 19 years old, he was 20 years old. We were still pursuing our dream. We both got drafted highly from an organization that decided to let us go. We came here and understood what the task was and what we was trying to accomplish. For some odd reason, he and I really clicked," Bogues said on his bond with Curry.

"We just gravitated towards each other. I had a kid; he had a kid. We were understanding that the NBA was something we wanted to continue, not just have a short stay. We understood our situation; what we was coming to was an expansion team. We both complemented each other skill-wise, knowing what he brought to the table and he knew what I brought to the table. We understood hey we are out on the floor and we can have a lot of success by being on the same page together. That’s exactly what we did the 9 years we were here," Bogues said.

one to the rafters.

congrats, muggsy 🩵 pic.twitter.com/wRnTjqb7rz
— Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) October 27, 2026

Muggys says he wants to be remembered as someone who believed in himself and never gave up.

"Just a kid that had a dream," Bogues explained. "Didn’t let anyone knock him off his dream, regardless of what the circumstances were and he was able to go out and fulfill it to the highest level that he was able to, the highest pinnacle of his career, which was the NBA."

"Just somebody that believed and never gave the outside noise any type of power over the his belief he had and the path he was on."

This will mark the third jersey retirement in franchise history, along with the late Bobby Phills' No. 13 and Dell Curry's No. 30.

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