Yuki Kawamura is now listed at 5'7" and stands alone as the shortest player on an NBA roster. The Bulls guard, 25, is four inches smaller than the league’s next-shortest group of 5'11" guards.
That is the kind of number people search for when the NBA’s height chart gets reshuffled, and Kawamura is not there by accident. His performance at the 2024 Olympics drew the attention of NBA scouts, and a strong preseason with the Grizzlies earned him a two-way contract that sent him into Memphis’s developmental G League system. He later suited up for 22 games as a rookie before joining Chicago for summer league action in 2025.
What makes his place on the roster more striking is how quickly the path nearly shut down. Kawamura suffered a blood clot during training camp, then returned and was signed by the Bulls to a two-way deal once he recovered. This past season, he appeared in 18 contests and averaged 3.4 points in 11.6 minutes per night, enough to keep him in the conversation even as the league’s tallest stages continue to favor bigger bodies.
The NBA has been opening more space for shorter guards as the three-point shot changes the game, and Steph Curry at 6'2" is still regarded as below average by league standards. Kawamura, though, is another step smaller still, which is why he stands out now: he is not simply short for an NBA player, he is shorter than the league’s next-shortest group by a full four inches. In a Finals run where New York is led by Jalen Brunson against the Spurs in the 2026 NBA Finals, that scale matters because it shows how unusual his presence remains even in a game that has made room for guards who once might have been ignored.
For now, the question is not whether Kawamura belongs in the conversation. It is whether Chicago keeps him long enough to turn a two-way deal and a brief scoring role into something more permanent.
