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At 5 feet 3 inches, Tyrone Bogues, better known as Muggsy Bogues, holds the record as the shortest player in NBA history.

He was drafted by the Washington Bullets in 1987, but he's best known for playing with the Charlotte Hornets alongside Alonzo Mourning and Larry Johnson.

Bogues says he comes from a family of "five-footers," so when he stopped growing, it was no surprise.

"I always tell people, I think my mom had me when I was 5' 3" — I don't remember ever growing," Bogues says.

'Little Ty'

Raised in Baltimore's Lafayette projects, Bogues loved to play basketball — but he always had to prove himself. The other kids didn't take him seriously on the court, saying he was too short to play.

Tyrone Bogues had a passion for basketball at an early age. Growing up in Baltimore's Lafayette projects, he earned the nickname "Muggsy" for his scrappy, aggressive defense. Courtesy of Tyrone Bogues hide caption

itoggle caption Courtesy of Tyrone Bogues

"I was Little Ty, Little Tyrone. I always got this negative feedback from the game of basketball," he says. People told him he was wasting his time; he'd never play basketball. He remembers thinking, " 'Why were these people saying this? I know I could play.' "

When the team captains picked their players, Bogues was always left out.

"The game is being played and we got to sit over there and watch," he says. "You get tired of just watching."

So he and his friends found empty milk crates and cut the bottoms out to make baskets.

"We tied the milk crates on each end of the fence and we had our own milk crate basketball pickup game and it was a good time cause we could jump off the fence and dunk the basketball," he says. "You had to be creative in order to play and I wanted to play."

Even back then, Bogues was an aggressive defender.

"I had to play that way because I was small," he says. "A little kid that just was out there trying to create havoc, just trying to disrupt a lot of things."

That's when the older kids started to notice him.

"All of a sudden, little Muggsy started getting a little reputation in the neighborhood," he says.

Rolling With The Punches

Throughout his teenage years, Bogues continued to build that reputation on the court. He even became a star player on the Dunbar High School basketball team.

"We were the No. 1 team in the nation," he says.

Yet he still overheard his skeptics in the crowd questioning his ability to play.

"People still didn't believe: 'Well, he played in high school, he had success in high school, but it's a whole other world when you get to college.' "

Luckily, not everyone saw it that way.

Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, a school that's produced several NBA players, offered Bogues a four-year basketball scholarship.

"Wake Forest came knocking on the door and I accepted that offer," he says. "It changed my life completely."

Still, his critics were relentless.

Even the commentators at games openly criticized Wake Forest for taking a chance on Bogues.

" [They would say] 'Why did they waste a four year scholarship on a little kid that's only 5 foot 3, who can barely see over a table?' " Bogues says. "All this negativity started coming from so many directions."

It was almost too much to handle, but Bogues' talent was undeniable.

"We had the chance to play a national televised game against [North Carolina State University]," he says.

Finally, this was his chance to shine at Wake Forest. And it was one of his best games.

i i

Chicago Bulls' Michael Jordan (left) looks down on Muggsy Bogues during a game in 1995. Bogues, who stands at 5' 3", is the shortest player in NBA history. Ruth Fremson/AP hide caption

itoggle caption Ruth Fremson/AP

Chicago Bulls' Michael Jordan (left) looks down on Muggsy Bogues during a game in 1995. Bogues, who stands at 5' 3", is the shortest player in NBA history.

Ruth Fremson/AP

"I had 20 points, 10 assists," Bogues says. "From that moment on, I continued to keep building that reputation."

The stage was set for Bogues' professional career. By the time he graduated, he had a real shot at the NBA.

The Draft

On the night of the 1987 NBA Draft, Bogues was one of the many prospective players sitting in the crowd in New York. He had no idea what his future in basketball would look like.

NBA Commissioner David Stern said from his podium, "The Washington Bullets select" — pause — "Tyrone Bogues of Wake Forest."

"It felt like the whole world was lifted off your shoulders," Bogues says. "You felt like, 'I have arrived.' "

The 22-year-old, 140-pound, 5-foot-3 Tyrone "Muggsy" Bogues became the shortest player in league history — a record he still holds.

"All the naysayers, the people saying that you'll never [play]. Why are you even thinking about it? A guy my size wanting to pursue a game that was supposed to be meant for the big guys," Bogues says. "That was a special, special moment."

NBA

Basketball

At 5 feet 3 inches, Tyrone Bogues, better known as Muggsy Bogues, holds the record as the shortest player in NBA history.

He was drafted by the Washington Bullets in 1987, but he's best known for playing with the Charlotte Hornets alongside Alonzo Mourning and Larry Johnson.

Bogues says he comes from a family of "five-footers," so when he stopped growing, it was no surprise.

"I always tell people, I think my mom had me when I was 5' 3" — I don't remember ever growing," Bogues says.

'Little Ty'

Raised in Baltimore's Lafayette projects, Bogues loved to play basketball — but he always had to prove himself. The other kids didn't take him seriously on the court, saying he was too short to play.

Tyrone Bogues had a passion for basketball at an early age. Growing up in Baltimore's Lafayette projects, he earned the nickname "Muggsy" for his scrappy, aggressive defense. Courtesy of Tyrone Bogues hide caption

itoggle caption Courtesy of Tyrone Bogues

"I was Little Ty, Little Tyrone. I always got this negative feedback from the game of basketball," he says. People told him he was wasting his time; he'd never play basketball. He remembers thinking, " 'Why were these people saying this? I know I could play.' "

When the team captains picked their players, Bogues was always left out.

"The game is being played and we got to sit over there and watch," he says. "You get tired of just watching."

So he and his friends found empty milk crates and cut the bottoms out to make baskets.

"We tied the milk crates on each end of the fence and we had our own milk crate basketball pickup game and it was a good time cause we could jump off the fence and dunk the basketball," he says. "You had to be creative in order to play and I wanted to play."

Even back then, Bogues was an aggressive defender.

"I had to play that way because I was small," he says. "A little kid that just was out there trying to create havoc, just trying to disrupt a lot of things."

That's when the older kids started to notice him.

"All of a sudden, little Muggsy started getting a little reputation in the neighborhood," he says.

Rolling With The Punches

Throughout his teenage years, Bogues continued to build that reputation on the court. He even became a star player on the Dunbar High School basketball team.

"We were the No. 1 team in the nation," he says.

Yet he still overheard his skeptics in the crowd questioning his ability to play.

"People still didn't believe: 'Well, he played in high school, he had success in high school, but it's a whole other world when you get to college.' "

Luckily, not everyone saw it that way.

Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, a school that's produced several NBA players, offered Bogues a four-year basketball scholarship.

"Wake Forest came knocking on the door and I accepted that offer," he says. "It changed my life completely."

Still, his critics were relentless.

Even the commentators at games openly criticized Wake Forest for taking a chance on Bogues.

" [They would say] 'Why did they waste a four year scholarship on a little kid that's only 5 foot 3, who can barely see over a table?' " Bogues says. "All this negativity started coming from so many directions."

It was almost too much to handle, but Bogues' talent was undeniable.

"We had the chance to play a national televised game against [North Carolina State University]," he says.

Finally, this was his chance to shine at Wake Forest. And it was one of his best games.

i i

Chicago Bulls' Michael Jordan (left) looks down on Muggsy Bogues during a game in 1995. Bogues, who stands at 5' 3", is the shortest player in NBA history. Ruth Fremson/AP hide caption

itoggle caption Ruth Fremson/AP

Chicago Bulls' Michael Jordan (left) looks down on Muggsy Bogues during a game in 1995. Bogues, who stands at 5' 3", is the shortest player in NBA history.

Ruth Fremson/AP

"I had 20 points, 10 assists," Bogues says. "From that moment on, I continued to keep building that reputation."

The stage was set for Bogues' professional career. By the time he graduated, he had a real shot at the NBA.

The Draft

On the night of the 1987 NBA Draft, Bogues was one of the many prospective players sitting in the crowd in New York. He had no idea what his future in basketball would look like.

NBA Commissioner David Stern said from his podium, "The Washington Bullets select" — pause — "Tyrone Bogues of Wake Forest."

"It felt like the whole world was lifted off your shoulders," Bogues says. "You felt like, 'I have arrived.' "

The 22-year-old, 140-pound, 5-foot-3 Tyrone "Muggsy" Bogues became the shortest player in league history — a record he still holds.

"All the naysayers, the people saying that you'll never [play]. Why are you even thinking about it? A guy my size wanting to pursue a game that was supposed to be meant for the big guys," Bogues says. "That was a special, special moment."

NBA

Basketball

Diane von Furstenberg was a young socialite when she first started showing her designs to New York boutiques and magazine editors in the late 1960s. The dresses she created weren't very expensive and they definitely weren't couture. They were wrap dresses — made of gentle jersey, gorgeously patterned, with a deep-cut V-neck and light belt.

"It's a dress that was practical and pretty and sexy," von Furstenberg tells NPR's Audie Cornish. It's been described, she says, as "a dress that you get the men with ... but he doesn't mind taking you to his mother."

It sold by the millions.

In her new memoir, The Woman I Wanted to Be, von Furstenberg tells her unlikely story of success. Her mother was a Belgian Holocaust survivor — a history von Furstenberg was always aware of, though her mother didn't speak of it often.

"She had tattooed numbers on her arm, but she had it removed because people kept on looking at it," von Furstenberg remembers. "And when she did talk about it, she protected me. ... She didn't want to burden me with the heaviness of it all."

Interview Highlights

The Woman I Wanted to Be

by Diane Von Furstenberg

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Read an excerpt

On her mother's strength

My mother was very minute; she was small and very slender. But she was probably the strongest person I ever met. She was very strict. Today, one would say maybe she was a "tiger mom," but I'm glad she was like that because she built my character. ...

I never questioned my mother. I never questioned anything about her. I just tried, always, to make it easier for her because, even though she wouldn't show me her scars, she was wounded — and I knew that. And therefore, I always was a good girl and trying to please her at all costs. And so, I never, ever questioned anything about her.

On a New York magazine cover story that portrayed Diane and her first husband, Egon von Furstenberg, as a cosmopolitan, "prince and princess" couple

It's just that we were very young, Egon and I, and good looking. And he was a prince and I was a princess. When I actually read the article — it was a cover story and it says "The Couple That Has Everything: Is Everything Enough?" Somehow, when I read that, I just thought that's not really who I am and, therefore, I can't really be a couple — I have to be me. And that, in a sense, kind of made us separate. I don't know if it's the only reason — probably not — but it was kind of the turning point. But we stayed very, very good friends. It's just that I did not want to be married.

On not wanting to be dependent

I never wanted to be dependent on anyone, whether it was my father or my husband. When I was a little girl — a young girl — I did not really know what I wanted to do, but I did know the kind of woman I wanted to be. And I wanted to be an independent woman, a woman who is in the driving seat, and who is in charge of her own life. And that clearly means, also, being financially independent. So that's really what I wanted to be and I became that woman. I was lucky that I became that woman very, very early in life, you know, in my late 20s. And that's that.

i i

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, wore a Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress during her visit to Australia in April. Von Furstenberg, who created the wrap dress some 40 years ago, says she realizes how rare it is for a dress to hold its place in fashion for so long. Chris Jackson/Getty Images hide caption

itoggle caption Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, wore a Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress during her visit to Australia in April. Von Furstenberg, who created the wrap dress some 40 years ago, says she realizes how rare it is for a dress to hold its place in fashion for so long.

Chris Jackson/Getty Images

On her initial discomfort with being called a "designer"

It's not reluctance. It's humility. You know, I worked in this mill for this Italian man who taught me everything and then I made a few samples and then I brought them to America. You know, I made easy little dresses. That's what I did. I didn't think I was actually designing them and I didn't think I was making a fashion statement. Yet, this year, I celebrate the 40th anniversary of my famous wrap dress. And I sold millions of them and generations and generations of women have worn it. So, all of a sudden, it just hit me. I said, maybe I did not want to make a fashion statement, yet I did. And it was actually more than just a fashion statement; it turned out that it was sociological. So I guess, then, now I am accepting it.

On why the wrap dress took off in the '70s

It's a dress that's both proper and seductive — practical and sexy. It just has everything. You know, you can go in a boardroom and make a presentation and feel feminine, and yet not exposed. ... [With no snaps or zippers] you could take it out and slip in and out of it making no noise.

On whether the intent was to create a dress that could be taken off easily

None of it was the intent, but it was the reality.

On her long, complicated relationship with the wrap dress

I took it for granted, that little dress, even though it paid for all my bills, it paid for my children's education, it paid for my houses, it paid everything — my fame, my success. But, the moment this year that I decided that I was going to honor it, I looked at it in a completely different way. And I looked at not just what it had done for me, but its place in society and how incredible and rare that is that a dress lives that long. So now, I am totally proud of it.

More on Diane von Frstenberg

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Diane Von Furstenberg Designs Hospital Gowns

On whether she feels her mother's influence in her own success

She used to say that I was her torch of freedom, and I feel it. I feel that I carry in my hand the flame — the flame of freedom, the flame of something that was taken away from her. And she did survive it. And she wasn't supposed to have a child and I was born. So my birth was a miracle. So it is, to some degree, my duty to honor my mother and honor her sufferings with a lot of joie de vivre because, at the end, life had won.

Interview Highlights

On one significant hallucination he had as a young man

That was a big one for me. I was taking an art history class. And when the screen went white, I hallucinated a huge, green, rubbery amphibious creature coming up from the bottom of the screen and it shocked me so badly that I can still feel it in the soles of my feet and my hands. ... It happened at a time when I was actively sort of looking for a sign. I needed direction in my life and I didn't have a lot of self-confidence and I didn't know where I was going to go or what I was going to do. And this frog provided me with the answers to that by way of making me feel that I had within me everything that I needed to go forth and make myself a productive life.

On the odd jobs he worked to supplement his income when he couldn't support himself by cartooning

For one thing, I worked at an advertising agency. And then for most of the '80s, a good friend of mine got me a job at a studio that made animated cartoons for children. And they weren't the kind of animated cartoons that you could take a lot of pride in. ... I don't want to badmouth my employers. They were awfully good to me. But the company was called Ruby-Spears. And the cartoons that I worked on were things like the Mister T show, Rubik the Amazing Cube, which was launched five years after the [Rubik's cube] fad was dead. ... I worked on the storyboards for those things and other things.

i i

A page from Jim. Copyright 2014 Jim Woodring/ Fantagraphics hide caption

itoggle caption Copyright 2014 Jim Woodring/ Fantagraphics

A page from Jim.

Copyright 2014 Jim Woodring/ Fantagraphics

On the frequency of his "apparitions" later in life

I haven't [seen any] for a couple of years now, actually. Last one I saw, I came up the stairs of my house to the second floor landing and I saw a guy standing at the end of the hall ... wearing a leather harness on his face and grimacing and staring at me. And at first I thought it was my reflection in the mirror until I realized there was no mirror there. And then I just lingered long enough for me to scrutinize it. And, as I usually do, I drew it. I made a picture of it. And it's a scary image.

On his reactions to hallucinations

It isn't frightening because something in me knows that it's not threatening. I don't know what it is. It's hard to explain how easily I can accept these things even though they're completely irrational. The one that I had before this, which was about four years ago, I looked out my window and I saw Thomson and Thompson from the Herg stories, the Tintin stories, in black and white walking down the street behind a 9-foot-tall hooker in red hot pants. When it resolved into what it was, it was just a woman and her two kids walking down the street but for about 10 seconds, I saw the aforementioned group in completely lifelike detail. It was as if they were really there.

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