“This was no scoot around the corner to pick up milk, bagels and the morning newspaper. The shortest player in NBA history took his longest trip ever to coach a single afternoon of basketball. First, it was a two-hour flight to Toronto. Then a 7 1/2-hour flight to Brussels, Belgium. And finally an 8 1/2-hour flight to New Delhi. All that to teach 75 kids from India how to dribble and shoot. No sightseeing, no banquets. And ex-Charlotte Hornet Muggsy Bogues loved it. “I feel like this is my mission – to help introduce kids to basketball everywhere,” Bogues said upon return from the quickest transcontinental trip imaginable. Bogues was representing the NBA in the league’s ongoing effort to globalize basketball. With such a large population (about 1.2 billion), India has to have plenty of athletes with unrealized hoops potential, just as China eventually produced Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian. Bogues has the resume; he played 14 NBA seasons for four franchises, mostly in Charlotte, where he still lives.
