5 shortest NBA players EVER

#3 Mel Hirsch - 5'6" (1.68 m)

Mel Hirsch - Boston Celtics(Image courtesy:

probasketballencyclopedia

)

There were players as short as 5'6" right from the inaugural season of the NBA (then known as Basketball Association of America -BAA). Mel Hirsch, a 5'6" point guard, played for the Boston Celtics in the 1946-47 season.

His basketball career lasted only the 13 games of that season. He averaged 1.5 points, 0.8 assists on 20% shooting from the field. He was the league's shortest player ever till he was displaced more than 40 years later.

Part of the Marine Corp before playing in the league, Hirsch would eventually lose his life to leukemia in December 1968 at the age of 47.