Over the years whenever I have watched the Mugsy Bogues’, Spudd Webb’s, and more recently Dan Dickau’s and Earl Boykins’ of the NBA, I wonder how they can overcome their height differential between them and their competitors. How do they make it to the highest possible level of play in the world when they are below average sized people playing amongst giant’s? Yes, I realize they make their weakness their strength by capitalizing on speed, power, co-oridination, low center of gravity etc. to get to where they want to go on the court.
But I still find these ‘vertically challenged’ players to be fascinating to watch on the court. Remember this picture below from a few years ago of Shaquille O’Neal (7’2″ tall) standing beside Earl Boykins (5’5″ tall)? How about this other picture below of Mugsy Bogues (5’3″ tall) standing beside Manute Bol (7’7″ tall)?
Well, they all got me thinking about the concept from the movie “Unbreakable” with Bruce Willis. If there is a strongest man alive there must be a weakest man alive, right? And in this case if there is a shortest man alive, there must be a tallest. So I did what any good writer would do. I googled. And scroll down to the 3rd picture below to see the dramatic result of the two people on earth with the greatest difference in height! The little guy is 2.4 feet tall, and the big guy is 8.1 feet tall:
