One millennium later, Eric Musselman gets the same cracks Mike Fratello used to get. Eventually someone asks if he signed Earl Boykins just to have one player at eye level, just like Fratello and Spud Webb.

	Earl Boykins' circus shot beat Michael Jordan's Wizards on Friday.

Musselman, the 5-foot-6 rookie coach, only has to bring up the Mavericks or the Lakers or Michael Jordan to hush the laughter.

Those are the heavy hitters Boykins, at a mere 5-5, has tormented in his seven weeks with the Golden State Warriors. He nearly toppled Dallas single-handedly on Dec. 7, scorching them for 23 points. He did topple the Lakers three days later, with 14 points and eight assists and by drawing a game-sealing charge on Derek Fisher at the other end.

One month later, on Friday night, Boykins was still here, thrusting himself into Sixth Man Award chatter and maybe even setting up Musselman for a stray Coach of the Year vote or two. The heir to the longest-of-shots legacy sprouted by Webb and Muggsy Bogues scored 16 points at Washington, nine in the fourth quarter, to take down Jordan's Wizards and nudge the Warriors to a surprising 15-20.

"He's kind of like a baseball closer," Musselman said. "He sits out almost every third quarter, then he comes in for the fourth quarter and we're asking him to make big play after big play.

"He's so unique because of his size, weight and confidence. But this is the first time that he's really gotten an opportunity to close games. I know he's been in a lot of situations that, if his team has been down, he comes right out of the game. We kind of hold off. There's not a team in the league now that wouldn't like to have him."

The new status comes on Boykins' seventh contract with his fifth different team, a career that includes two stints with his home-state Cleveland Cavaliers. Only one of those teams used him for more than 25 games in a season. Finally, at 26, there are signs Boykins might approach the longevity of a Webb (12 seasons) or Bogues (14) -- the game's biggest-ever small men.

Those three belong to the exclusive fraternity of players 5-7 and shorter. Calvin Murphy was a Hall of Famer at 5-9. Charlie Criss played eight seasons at 5-8. Michael Adams' flings from 3-point range were unforgettable, and Bogues mentions him as a co-contemporary with Webb, but Adams was listed at 5-10. Tiny Archibald, another Hall of Famer, was listed at 6-1.

SMALL TALK

The only player in NBA history shorter than 5-foot-5 Earl Boykins is 5-3 Muggsy Bogues. We asked them both about life in the exclusive fraternity of players 5-7 and shorter, which also includes dunk champion (and my brother's favorite) Spud Webb. MUGGSY BOGUES: "Spud (Webb) was more of an open-court, burst-of-speed kind of guy. (The 5-10) Michael Adams was pull up and shoot the 3. I was more of a passer/penetrator as opposed to looking for my offense first. Elevate my teammates around me, that was my niche. Spud and I go back to the ACC, so we respected each other, kind of pulled for one another. But Spud had it a little more difficult. I was a first-round pick (No. 12 overall to Washington in 1987), so I didn't have to go through that (free-agent) process. I've been checking little Earl out and he's really caught on. He got the right call at the right time. He finally got a fair opportunity." EARL BOYKINS: "My role model growing up was my dad (Willie), but Muggsy and Spud, they really showed me it could be done. Because those guys made it, I knew I could make it. But as far as patterning my game after someone, it was Isiah Thomas. I learned early on that, to have a chance, I had to be able to shoot. I wasn't built like Muggsy. He is stocky. He's muscular. I'm not muscular." — Marc Stein

Boykins is right between the 5-7 Webb and the 5-3 Bogues at 5-5 and 133 pounds. Webb was the pure athlete, never seen before or since. He could out-hang the giants to win a dunk contest when they still mattered, and he zoomed up and down the floor at speeds that sometimes seemed too fast for Spud to stop himself. Bogues was the floor general who stayed on the court because he ran a team so well, beloved by fans and his teammates. Boykins? He's the shooter.

Unlike his predecessors, Boykins is deadly from mid-range, and he's hitting 46 percent of his 3s, too. He ranked second in the nation in scoring at Eastern Michigan in 1997-98 and suddenly finds himself as a primary option in crunch time for the Warriors, who don't have a sure-thing scorer late even with Antawn Jamison averaging 23.5 points.

"I don't know if he's ever been on a team where, with two minutes to go in the game, it's his show," Musselman said. "It's Earl and Jamison running pick and rolls. And he's delivered. I keep waiting, thinking this can't keep happening, and he hits the shot that basically closes the game out. I tell him, 'Do whatever you want, just keep the ball in your hands.' "

If the Warriors knew any of this was possible, obviously, Boykins would have been with them from the start of the season. Instead, without a guaranteed contract offered by his last team (Clippers) or anyone else, Boykins adopted the same risky stance as another Ohioan and Mark Termini client. Like Jim Jackson, Boykins snubbed offers to be a third point guard and skipped training camp, preferring to wait until injuries left a desirable team desperate. That way, Boykins figured, he'd get to play when he finally did sign.

It wound up working for Jackson with Sacramento, where he'll now have a shot at a championship ring, and it worked for Boykins, too. The Warriors signed him Nov. 27 and, in his second game on Nov. 29, there was Boykins scoring 20 points to go with seven steals in a 10-point win at Denver. After averaging just 11.2 minutes in a career-high 68 games with the Clippers last season, Boykins instantly became a rotation guy, albeit with Musselman making it clear that Gilbert Arenas "is our point guard of the future."

"Earl is so much different than what you see," Musselman said. "You can't prepare for him. You can't emulate him in shootarounds. He's also a much better clutch player than I expected.

"He understands the dynamics of this thing. It's important that we try to win games, but we never want to stunt the development of (Jason) Richardson and Arenas."

No worries there. No stunted growth here. The Warriors are winning more than anyone expected, and the success -- combined with Musselman's well-documented efforts to instill pride and accountability in a franchise with the league's longest playoff drought, at eight seasons and counting -- has helped change the atmosphere around the team.

	Things have picked up for the Warriors since they signed Earl Boykins, right.

Boykins, meanwhile, is becoming increasingly known as the player bigger guards hate to chase, and without forcing Golden State to alter its defense just to accommodate him. Boykins has an advantage of playing in a zone era, which Webb and Bogues didn't have, but Musselman insists the Warriors don't feel forced to hide Boykins in zone schemes. It also doesn't hurt that what has long been considered a major weakness -- pounding the ball into the wood too long -- is what Muss wants. He likes Boykins darting in and out of the lane until a shot opportunity comes.

"I'm really enjoying this," Boykins said. "This is by far the most fun I've had playing. This is the only place where I'm getting the opportunity to play major minutes and be a true point guard. I've had the chance to make mistakes and not worry about it.

"I think of myself as a basketball player. I don't look at the height thing. My goals aren't different from anyone else's goals. All I ever wanted in this league was respect."

Asked if he thinks he has it now, Boykins flatly says, "No." That's where the longevity factors in -- what helped make Bogues and Webb big names.

After 22 games by the Bay, averaging 10.6 points and 4.2 assists and with sparkling shooting percentages from every distance, Boykins can rest assured that he has at least secured everyone's attention.

"I don't think I'll ever be satisfied," Boykins said. "I still feel there are those who don't believe in my abilities."

Then there's Musselman, who's feeling so giddy about the discovery that he ends up telling his own joke.

"It's always nice to look him square in the eye," Muss said. "It's pretty funny, too. We were playing Houston and Steve Francis comes up to me on the sideline and says, 'Coach, I watch a lot of your games and I thought you were a lot taller.' I told him the only person he probably saw me talking to was Boykins."

The coach can laugh when he tells it.

Marc Stein is the senior NBA writer for ESPN.com. To e-mail him, click here.