By Tony Overbay

A quick trip to http://www.nba.com/players/ a couple of days ago left me extremely disappointed. I scrolled down to the B’s to see where and what my two height-impaired role models, Tyrone “Muggsy” Bogues and Early Boykins were up to. At 5’3” and 5’5” respectively, these are two of the only players in the league I have a height advantage on.

I stared at the B’s for nearly 5 minutes thinking I must have been overlooking these miniature gladiators who have brought so much excitement and hope to the thousands of vertically challenged b-ballers growing up on playgrounds around the country. I remember the 1986 NBA slam dunk contest like it was yesterday. I was 16, watching Spud Webb throw down dunk after dunk including a 360 that brought everybody watching at my house out of their seats yelling in unison, “How did he do that?”

Yes, I walked onto the court the next day with my head held high, knowing that Spud had just scored a major victory for the little guy. I took the ball to the hole with reckless abandon, and even as I watched shot after shot after shot get swatted into the bleachers I thought to myself, “Spud could've got that one over them.”

Then there was talk about Bogues, a little guy who even in cowboy boots would be looking up to me, and I thought, “Here we go, the trend has begun.” Little did these pioneers know that they were just a blip on NBA radar screen. Webb and Bogues both had relatively good careers, and they are both awesome players to take on NBA Live 2001 on the PS2, they'll pick your pocket if you turn to face them, but it looks like the trend for the tiny tots is leaving with the departure of Bogues and Boykins.

So in their honor, I have put together a quick list of things that will no longer be heard in locker rooms across the NBA:

- “Hey Mr. Trainer, can you unlace those size 6’s for me, its almost time for warm ups.” Muggsy Bogues

- “Where is Mr. Boykins? We came into the locker room to interview him; he really had a great game. Oh, there he is, standing behind that bottle of shampoo.” Clippers Beat writer

- “Get me a happy meal, but supersize those fries, I'm starving!” Spud Webb back in the day before the per diem was raised.

- “Foul on number 0, oh I'm sorry, that's number 9 now that his jersey is untucked,” PA announcer calling a foul on Muggsy.

- “Hey Mitch, how bout a boost, somebody took away my stool.” Webb to Mitch Richmond getting help to reach the sink to brush his teeth after a game.

- “Alright guys, ha, ha, that was real funny, NOW GET ME OUT OF HERE!” Bogues yelling from the airplane overhead compartment during rookie year hijinks.

- “How’d he get down there?” Shaq peeling Boykins off the bottom of his shoe after an unfortunate charging incident.

- “Mr. Bogues, Armani for Kids is on the line, your suit will be ready on Friday.” Muggsy’s personal assistant

- “Will any of you need a booster chair?” TGI Friday’s hostess seating the old-school Kings for a meal after a game back in the 90’s.

- “I'm sorry sir, you're going to have to wait for your friends at the end of the ride.” Theme park operator lecturing Muggsy at a team outing to Six Flags.

Tony Overbay is from Kingssuperfans.com