A Tribute to the "LITTLE GIANTS"

In basketball, height helps only if it is backed by skill, speed, strength, stamina and sharpshooting.

It's obvious that basketball is usually played by tall folks. After all, the basket is a fixed height off the floor, so it's easier to make a basket or keep someone else from doing so if you're tall enough to reach above the basket rim. So... the average height of NBA players has climbed steadily and is now six feet, seven inches.
There are, however, some striking exceptions to the "taller is better" idea. Lets call them the “Little Giants” of the NBA.

THE VERY SHORTEST : TYRONE “MUGGSY” BOGUES 5 FEET 3 INCHES

Standing only 5-3 Muggsy Bogues wasn’t the most intimidating physical specimen on the basketball court, but his talent combined with the passion and drive with which he played the game gave him an advantage that set him apart from his competitors and endeared him to fans throughout the country.
When he was a child in the Baltimore projects, people used to laugh at Muggsy Bogues for his unending dedication to the sport where height matters most: basketball. How could a kid who stopped growing when he was ten -- at barely over five feet -- compete with six- and seven-footers? After he guided what might have been the best high school basketball team ever to the state championships and through two straight undefeated seasons, people didn't believe he would be able to handle college ball. He proved them wrong yet again, at Wake Forest University, but they still doubted he could make it in the NBA, at least as anything more than an oddity. But after a shaky start with the Washington Bullets, he hit his stride with the most successful expansion team ever, the Charlotte Hornets, leading them to the NBA playoffs in five short years, silencing the naysayers forever.
As a point guard, Bogues enjoyed a 14-year NBA playing career, including nine-plus years in Charlotte as he was one of original members of the NBA in Charlotte in 1988 when the Hornets picked him in the Expansion Draft.
The top playing moments of his career came in Charlotte, as he averaged 10.8 points and 10.1 assists in 1993-94, a career-high 10.7 assists in 1989-90, a personal-best 11.1 points in 1994-95 and was regularly among the NBA leaders in assists, steals and assist-to-turnover ratio. He averaged 8.8 points, 8.8 assists and 1.7 steals during his nine-plus year tenure in Charlotte, up from his career averages of 7.7 points, 7.6 assists and 1.54 steals. In Layman terms he used his height (or the lack of it) to his advantage. No one could steal the ball from him ; tall guys would have had to bend a lot to do so , and by that time he would have flew by them. He was also among the best in assists. How he saw his teammates given his small stature is still a mystery!!!!!
Aside from being the all-time shortest NBA player, Bogues was also the shortest to be able to DUNK the ball.(The basket is 10ft from floor). Bogues is currently head coach of the Women's NBA team, the Charlotte Sting.
In 1996, Bogues managed to block a shot and embarrass 7'0" NBA great Patrick Ewing.

THE LEAPING ANTHONY “SPUD” WEBB 5 FEET 7INCHES

Anthony "Spud" Webb, had a 12-year NBA basketball career. The 5-foot 7-inch phenom enon with an amazing 42 inch vertical jump, overcame the greatest of insurmountable odds and electrified crowds all over the world with his dunking ability and competitive spirit.
Despite Spud's incredible college career, he was not selected in the NBA draft because of his size.

Spud's greatest achievement may be his stunning victory at the 1986 NBA Slam Dunk Championship where he defeated many high-flying artists that were more than a foot taller than him, including Atlanta Hawks teammate Dominique Wilkins.

Current little giant Earl Boykins - 5 feet, 5 inches

Earl Boykins, in his 8th NBA season, is a point guard for the Denver Nuggets, and is the NBA leading scorer off the bench.
On January 18, 2005, Earl Boykins set an NBA record for most points in overtime with 15 points. Boykins’ clutch performance came against the Northwest Division-leading Seattle Supersonics, when he hit on four of five shots from the field, including one three-pointer, and on six of seven from the free-throw line. That set an NBA record of 15 points in an overtime period, eclipsing the previous best of 14 by Indiana’s Butch Carter in 1984. On the other bucket the Nuggets scored in that overtime, Boykins had the assist. Denver won, 116-110.
These two photos are of Earl with Yao Ming, Houston Rocket big man at 7' 5". Shawn Bradley of Dallas is the NBA's tallest current player at 7'6".

Another current little giant Nate Robinson - 5 feet, 9 inches

Nate recently made news (and controversy) with a win in the NBA slam-dunk contest over Andre Iguodala of the Philadelphia 76ers. Clearly, Nate's final slam was a sentimental and crowd favorite, when he leaped over Spud Webb (see pic) to slam the ball home. Nate was recruited by the U. of Washington for football, played both sports for one year, then dropped football, was All-American in his junior year, then opted for the 2005 NBA draft. He was drafted #21 in the first round by Phoenix, and is now a rookie with the New York Knicks.

Lets make no mistake about it. Height helps. But only if it is supported by skill, speed, strength, stamina and sharpshooting, the first four of them constituting athleticism. Take the 6’7” Chinese team and pit it against an American team averaging 6’ and the Americans would still win at a canter. No Yao Ming at 6’7” would stop the likes of Iverson 1 ½ feet shorter.
These people mentioned above teach us a very important lesson – A true champion is one who use what he has, how little it may be, to his advantage and not blame his faith for his failures. These people were discouraged by others in every step of their lives, they were told that they were too short to play basketball. But these “Little Giants” overcame every obstacle they faced and became true legends of the game. They proved that if your heart is big enough any dream can become a reality.

The man who inspired the world to LIVE STRONG

At first it was a proverbial feel-good story, An athlete comes back from a near fatal illness to return to his sport. Then he becomes a champion, winning the sports biggest event, something he couldn't do before becoming ill. And when he triumphs again and again and again - SEVEN times in all - he writes one of the greatest sports stories of all time.
The athlete is LANCE ARMSTRONG and the event is Tour de France, a three week long cycling race that covers more than 2000 miles. It consists of mountain stages through the Alps and Pyrenees mountains (Now that is near the limits of human endurance). the tour is consideres the most demanding, debilitating and gruelling sports event in the world. Lance Armstrong was not even good enough to complete the tour, let alone win it!! That is until cancer almost cost him his life.
Diagnosed with testicular cancer at the age of 25, Lance’s life not only changed, it almost ended. The cancer also spread to his lungs and brain. Doctors felt that he had only 15% chance of surviving and absolutely no chance of ever riding a cycle again. But he fought back. He was just not ready to give up.
The commonly used chemotherapy drugs would cause damage to the patient’s lungs. To prevent this, his doctors used a combination of drugs that would not damage his lungs but at the same time reduced its effectiveness. But Lance did not want to live a life in which he could not compete on his bike.
Even God must have been humbled by his determination. Miraculously, the combination of drugs worked and his body was declared cancer free. Before cancer, former champions had commented that Lance Armstrong would never win tour de France due to his weight even though he was extremely fit. This was true as he always struggled in the mountain stages. But post cancer, his body had lost weight which ultimately became a blessing in disguise.
To quote Lance’s words “this illness is the best thing that ever happened to me. I would never have won Tour de France if I hadn’t had cancer. No doubt”.
His first Tour victory in 1999 was miraculous enough, but from there he went on to dominate the event as no one had before. People had trouble believing that one of those riders had been a cancer patient. So obviously people started accusing him of doping. He must have been tested for banned substances more times than any other athlete and he never was tested positive. He went on to win seven straight tours before his retirement after 2005 race.
Lance Armstrong has not only been an incredible athlete, but an inspiration to cancer patients and survivors the world over. The creation of the Lance Armstrong Foundation and his trademark LIVESTRONG yellow bracelets are just two of the ways he helps inspire people and raise money for cancer research. His foundation also focuses on spreading knowledge about cancer symptoms so that it can be diagnosed early. He himself had not known the symptoms which had worsened his condition. He does not want others to make the same mistake. With all his great athletic achievements, Lance Armstrong has always been about giving back
Even today Lance Armstrong considers himself first and foremost a cancer survivor. To that end, he continues to inspire countless others, both directly and indirectly, and in that respect has become not only a sports icon, but a true hero.
Just think for a second, we always get depressed and lose hope when obstacles occur in our journey of life, these obstacles are nothing when compared to what Lance achieved. Life is full of obstacles, facing it with your head up is what makes one’s life successful. There are no boundaries for what one can achieve. To quote Phil Jackson , NBA basketball coach, “Never underestimate the heart of a true champion”.

Checkout the video at this link..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi7sPSOTErY&eurl=http://www.orkut.com/FavoriteVideoView.aspx?uid=7306755346642335167&ad=1201463345&uit=/Home.aspx