Last of a dying breed? At 5’11”, Minnesota PG Jordan McLaughlin is the only active player in the NBA listed under 6’0” on basketball reference

Disclaimer: there are a handful of NBA players who are slightly shorter than 6'0", so we're only speaking about listed height on that particular website. The league has pushed for more transparency and honesty in players' heights (after decades of exaggerating and listing guys with their height in shoes), but there's still some lingering inconsistency from site to site. For example, Patty Mills measured a shade under 6'0" coming out of college, but NBA.com lists him at 6'0" and basketball-reference still lists him at 6'1". According to NBA.com, there are two players under 6'0" -- McKinley Wright IV and Kennedy Chandler at 5'11"; according to basketball-reference, they're both 6'0". Funny enough, our titular shorty Jordan McLaughlin is listed as taller on NBA.com at 6'0".

Either way, we're splitting hairs here. The general point remains that small guards may be going extinct. We barely have anyone under 6'0" -- and there are only a dozen players listed at an even 6'0" on either site. Together they represent about 3% of the league population.

Certainly, the trend towards "position-less" basketball hurts these smaller guards. Offensively, teams are less reliant on a traditional point guard to initiate the offense. Defensively, the small guards can get caught switched onto bigger wings and struggle to contain them.

Given that inherent challenge, you've got to give a huge amount of credit to the 6'0" guards who can still survive in the league. They beat the odds for a variety of factors and skill sets. Some (like Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet) have the strength to play bigger than their size. Some (like Tyus Jones) have an excellent basketball IQ. Some (like Jose Alvarado) play with a motor that's been re-purposed from tiny irritants before them like J.J. Barea. And some (mainly just Chris Paul) are the complete combo package of all skills, only built a little smaller than average.

Still, going forward, you have to wonder about the future of these 6'0"-and-under guards. Overall, the league isn't getting bigger across the board -- the average height is still about 6'6"/6'7" -- but it's getting squeezed toward the middle. It'll take exceptional talent for the shorties to survive this purge.