Second-greatest player in the history of each NBA franchise
Charlotte Hornets: Muggsy Bogues
Greatest Player: Kemba Walker
In a game predicated by size, Muggsy Bogues shouldn’t have made it to the NBA much less carve out a career lasting more than a decade.
Yet after a stellar four-year career at Wake Forest that led him to the No. 12 spot in the 1987 Draft, that’s exactly what Bogues did, spending a year in Washington before the Charlotte Hornets brought him in via the expansion draft of 1988.
What Bouge’s lacked in scoring ability he made up for as a passer, posting two seasons with north of 10 assists a game and an average of 8.8 dimes per game across a little more than nine years in Charlotte.
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With Bouge’s running the show alongside Larry Johnson and Alonzo Mourning, the Hornets reached their first-ever playoffs and a second-round appearance in 1993.
While Johnson and Mourning would move elsewhere, Bouge’s steady hand kept Charlotte afloat in their absence with two more playoff appearances and the organization’s first two 50-win seasons.
Bouge’s efforts never amounted to a single All-Star appearance, but they resulted in the most assists and steals in Hornets’ history in the second-most games before being dealt to Golden State early in the 1997-98 season.