The Shortest Players in the NBA: Past & Present
In the game of basketball, height offers a natural advantage. The basketball hoop in the NBA stands 10’ high. So, even someone considered to be quite tall at 6’ will still be a good 1’6’’away from the hoop when standing directly underneath it with their arms stretched upwards.
We’ve seen many players arrive in the NBA standing 7’ or more, like the 7’6’’ Yao Ming or even newcomer Victor Wembanyama at 7’4’’, and enjoy successful careers thanks to their elevation advantage. Still, with skill and athleticism forever emphasized in the league, there’s also a path for the shortest NBA players to shine.
Here, we’re having a look at the shortest NBA players of the past and present, seeing how they managed to leverage their height on a court regularly filled with giants.
The Shortest Players Currently Featured in the NBA
Entering the 2024/25 season, NBA players hit an average height of 6’7’’, showcasing just how coveted being tall is in the sport. However, that doesn’t mean that anyone in the low-6’ bracket or even shorter can't make a splash in the NBA today. These are the shortest NBA players currently competing on the court.
Markquis Nowell (5’7’’)
Standing 5’7’’ and from New York City, New York, Markquis Nowell is the shortest NBA player right now.
Having gone undrafted in 2023, the Toronto Raptors picked him up and sent him to the Raptors 905 team in the NBA G League to continue his development. He’d play one NBA game for the Raptors, coming on for three minutes and 30 seconds.
At the end of the point guard’s initial two-way contract in late 2024, Nowell pivoted to the Houston Rockets, but soon after cleared the waivers and landed with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers back in the NBA G League. Still only 25 years old, there’s plenty of time for Nowell to refine his game and make a big splash in the league.
On the court, it’s his incredible competitive drive and fearless play that keep NBA teams interested.
He maximizes his low centre of gravity to showcase his top-tier ball-handling, and all while seeking to bolster his teammates. In 2023, he set the single-game record for assists in an NBA tournament at 19, showing his strong team play.
Jacob Gilyard (5’8’’)
Also playing at point guard, Jacob Gilyard makes it onto this list of the current shortest NBA players around by standing 5’8’’.
The man from Kansas City, Missouri, has enjoyed a much longer stint in the NBA than the shortest NBA player, having featured in 42 games with 14 starts to date.
Often moving between the NBA G League and NBA line-ups since 2022, Gilyard has been on the books of the Memphis Grizzlies, the Brooklyn Nets, and the Cleveland Cavaliers. It was in 2023/24 that he earned a run of 37 games for the Grizzlies and then four with the Nets after being waived.
Along with his one marathon showing in 2022/23 with Memphis, Gilyard has put up averages of 17.6 minutes, a .399 field goal percentage, 3.4 assists per game, 4.2 points per game, and 1.2 rebounds per game. Across his time in the NBA, he demonstrated his defensive know-how and made the most of his natural speed to beat opponents.
Isaiah Thomas (5’9’’)
Now that we’ve breached into 5’9’’ territory, we have ourselves a long-time NBA regular in Isaiah Thomas.
He may be among the shortest NBA players to currently be active in the sport, but he’s certainly enjoyed a strong career. Things were going great for the 2011 second-round selection until around 2017.
It was in August of that year that a trade to send Thomas to the Cleveland Cavaliers hit a snag when the medical team found several recurring issues from a previous right hip injury.
After that trade, only once did he play at least 40 games in a season, which was in 2019/20 for the Washington Wizards.
Even so, Thomas enjoyed six full seasons of regular game time. The pinnacle of his career came in 2015/16, when he started 79 games for the Boston Celtics, putting up 32.2 minutes, 3.0 rebounds, 6.2 assists, and a .359 three-point percentage.
Especially during that season, Thomas’s aggressive, head-down play, speed on the ball, and competitive drive all offset any height disadvantage. In those opening campaigns, when Thomas was fully fit, he certainly helped his team’s odds in the basketball betting lines.
Zavier Simpson (6’0’’)
Coming out of Lima, Ohio, Zavier Simpson isn’t often among the shortest people in the room, but at 6’0’’, he does rank here among the shortest NBA players who are still active.
Most recently, he’s been playing ball in Romania for U-BT Cluj Napoc, where he continues to showcase the hook shot and physical drive that got him noticed by the NBA.
Simpson went undrafted in 2020 but earned a contract with the Los Angeles Lakers in late 2020. He was soon waived and ended up with the Oklahoma City Blue in the NBA G League. It’d take until the 2021/22 season for Simpson to be given NBA minutes. In four starts, he returned a .365 field goal percentage, 5.3 rebounds, 11.0 points, and 7.5 assists per game.
Playing for Motor City Cruise at the time, Simpson got a couple of ten-day contracts from the Grizzlies in 2024 to fill in some roster spots. He played in seven more NBA games through these contracts, putting up a 6.0 point, 2.9 rebound, 3.6 assist, and .294 three-point percentage per game average.
The Shortest Players in the History of the NBA
When looking at the shortest players in NBA history, we can see that only one of the shortest NBA players of the current league would just about get into the mix. So, from a 5’3’’ star of 14 seasons to a 5’7’’ guard of Japanese descent, these are the shortest NBA players ever.
Muggsy Bogues (5’3’’)
Tyrone Curtis Bogues, also known as “Muggsy” Bogues, goes down in history as the shortest player in NBA history, but he was so much more than that.
For the Charlotte Hornets primarily, he’d regularly stuff the stats sheet. From 1989 to 1995, he was a top-seven for assists, and finished in the top ten for steals three times.
By the end of his career, the man who was taken 12th overall in 1987 proved that size shouldn’t matter in the NBA. His career averages finished as 28.6 minutes, .458 field goal percentage, .278 three-point percentage, 2.6 rebounds, 7.6 assists, and 7.7 points per game. The 5’3’’ point guard also featured in the playoffs five times.
Powering the play of Muggsy Bogues was his incredible speed and defensive ability. Despite his height, or maybe because of his height, he’d find himself stealing the ball right out of an opponent’s hands game after game. Knowing his threat, his presence in passing lanes and around the basket made opponents think twice.
Earl Boykins (5’5’’)
Earl Boykins realized early in his career that if he couldn’t grow upwards, he could at least utilize the tools offered by growing outwards.
The point guard was absurdly strong, making his low centre of gravity even more difficult to push around. Add in his lightning speed and, if Boykins wanted to be somewhere, there were few who could stop him.
While rarely a starter, Boykins became a well-known and useful addition to many an NBA team’s rotation. His best shot at winning the NBA Championship came with the team that used him the most. From the 2003/04 season to 2005/06, Boykins played 244 games for the Denver Nuggets, going to the playoffs in each of those campaigns.
Mel Hirsch (5’6’’)
Mel Hirsch was once a record-holder.
When he made his debut for the Boston Celtics during the 1946/47 season in what was the BAA, the Brooklyn-born Hirsch set the record as the shortest NBA player in league history.
Unfortunately, his was a smash-and-grab record, with him only playing 13 games that season to complete his career. Prior to joining the BAA, he was a noted quality player at Brooklyn College and in the US Army Air Corps’ ranks.
Spud Webb (5’7’’)
Playing consistently from 1985/86 through to 1994/95, with a few less active seasons after this to finish his career, Spud Webb would further the thinking that the shortest NBA players can offer a lot of value. He was drafted two years before Bogues entered the league, going in the fourth round of the 1985 draft.
He was picked by the Detroit Pistons, but they dropped him in preseason, allowing him to go to the Atlanta Hawks, beat out their guard corps, and land in the rotation. It took until 1989/90 for him to become a regular starter. After that, he became quite the force on the court, helping Atlanta’s NBA odds each game.
Buoyed by four seasons as a starter with the Sacramento Kings, Webb ended his career with 814 games, a 24.9 minutes average, .452 field goal percentage, .314 three-point percentage, 5.3 assists, and 9.9 points per game. A winner of the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, it was often Webb’s absurd leap at the end of speedy runs that set him apart.
Greg Grant (5’7’’)
Standing among the shortest players in NBA history at 5’7’’, Greg Grant got off to a good start. He’d led Division III in scoring for Trenton State College and earned a pick from the Phoenix Suns in the second round. That season, the Suns would roll him out onto the NBA court, but his career was to be one of moving around a lot.
From 1989 to 1996, Grant played for the Suns, New York Knicks, Charlotte Hornets, Philadelphia 76ers, Denver Nuggets, the 76ers again, and the Nuggets again, as well as several other teams from other leagues. When he was on the court, he made up for his size with his aggressive, hard-pressing play to try to force mistakes.
Keith Jennings (5’7’’)
Also standing 5’7’’ to break into this list of the shortest NBA players in league history, Keith Jennings was pulled up late but made the most of his time in the big leagues. He went undrafted in 1991, so he went to play for the Jacksonville Hooters and Brandt Hagen. In 1992, the Golden State Warriors signed him up.
This was a very different Golden State Warriors to the team that formed one of the most dominant dynasties in NBA history and is still in as a dark horse in the Pacific Division odds. These Dubs weren’t playoff contenders, but that didn’t matter to the tireless Jennings, who’d play 164 games over three seasons.
Red Klotz (5’7’’)
While others on this list of the shortest NBA players currently in the league and the shortest players in NBA history often overcome the height gap with speed, tenacity, aggression, or a distinct skill, Red Klotz did so with his high basketball IQ.
On and off the ball, he was tremendously strategic, allowing him to shift the ball or himself in ways that wouldn’t allow opponents to close down his angles with their greater size. He played from 1942 to 1989, which was well into his 60s, often coming up against the Harlem Globetrotters.
In 2007, the Globetrotters made him the first non-Trotter to enter their version of the hall of fame, the Legends Ring.
Wataru Misaka (5’7’’)
Born in Utah to Japanese parents, Wataru Misaka had to overcome tremendous barriers to make it to professional basketball. He played college ball from 1941 to 1947, getting selected in the seventh round (61st overall) in the 1947 draft.
Misaka was picked by the New York Knicks despite only standing 5’7’’, to join the ranks of the shortest NBA players. He’d choose to serve in the US Army during the country’s occupation of Japan after World War II, limiting his availability for the Knicks. He took to the court three times before being cut and later became a bowler.