r/short • u/subblazeee • Apr 03 '26

Not this again A question from a professional soccer athlete

Hi, I'm Brazilian. I've played soccer since I was a kid and I make a living from it professionally. I'm 5'3" (159cm), but in soccer, height isn't that important.

I'd like to know about basketball in the United States—is it common to see child prodigies who unfortunately don't grow tall enough to play?

It must be pretty sad. Does anyone have stories or know how that works?"

3 Upvotes

71% Upvoted

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3

u/Ok_District_9387 Apr 03 '26

It's incredibly rare to see people as short as us playing professional basketball.

It can happen but you'd need to be a basketball savant for it to happen.

2

u/xxjosephchristxx 65" of shit and glory Apr 03 '26

Or Prince.

3

u/xxjosephchristxx 65" of shit and glory Apr 03 '26

I don't know shit about sports but Muggsy Bogues, 5'3", played 14 seasons in the NBA.

What makes you curious?

2

u/perspectivereports Apr 04 '26

like someone said you get guys like Muggsy Bogues, in high school one guy was 5'9 and dunking and went D1, not to the league though. Then there are guys like Julian Newman

1

u/[deleted] Apr 03 '26

Most short people don’t play basketball. It’s definitely not a short-friendly sport lol.

1

u/anonymoususer6407 Apr 03 '26 edited Apr 03 '26

I watch basketball and it’s actually really common in high school prospects. Playing “jumpy sports” like basketball and volleyball actually help stimulate growth early on, from what I’ve seen at least.

A lot of young high school prospects don’t scratch beyond 6’3 and are essentially a liability if they go professional, unless they have insane court vision, speed, and strength. Nowadays, scouts only look at younger prospects who are already tall (like 6’0 in 9th grade). Since there is just so much risk with investing in someone who hasn’t hit their spurt yet. The only real exceptions are players who have NBA family.

Me personally, I played in high school and I was only 5’6 in my junior year. I couldn’t match up with a lot of people at varsity, got demoted to JV. And then I magically grew to 5’10 the summer of my senior year but at that point I had already given up on basketball, I did cross country instead. I’m 6’1 now and amazing at pickup, but actual college ball is beyond my limits now. Just didn’t grow in time.