Tyrone "Muggsy" Bogues

Born Tyrone Curtis on January 9, 1965, in Baltimore, Maryland, Bogues was the youngest child of Richard and Elaine Bogues. He grew up along with his two brothers and one sister in the Lafayette public housing project on the city's east side. There he earned his nickname Muggsy from his neighborhood playmates.

Bogues's father was a stevedore, but scarcity of work left him with little choice but to supplement the family income with ill-gotten gains. When Bogues was 12 years old, his father was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for strong armed robbery. It was a difficult burden for the Bogues family, as was dodging bullets in the inner city ghetto. On one unlucky day Bogues, mistaken for a vandal, caught some buckshot in his arms and legs.

By age nine, Bogues began to frequent Lafayette Courts Community Recreational Center where he became totally absorbed with basketball. As he entered his teens he was noticeably smaller than most boys his age, but with encouragement from neighborhood coaches he learned the fine points of the game. He joined a city league team and at age 13 he was named most valuable player (MVP) in a tournament

After junior high school, Bogues enrolled at Southern High School for one year, then transferred to Dunbar High School where for the next two years—wearing jersey number 14—he played on an undefeated team. In his first year there he was named MVP of the Baltimore City Public Schools Tournament as Dunbar took its sixth consecutive championship.