Jahmani Swanson has been excelling at basketball for quite some time.
You hoops heads just caught up!
Standing at 4’5″ Swanson, better known to hoop fans as Mani Love, was a standout at NYC’s Monroe College.
His lightning speed and ball handling skills cannot be denied and he’s developed quite a body of work. His skills have been showcased in celebrity basketball exhibition games with the latest and greatest like NFL Hall of Famer Terrell Owens and comedian/actor/singer Jamie Foxx. He was also recently named a member of the Harlem Globetrotters, where he got the nickname, Hot Shot.
In 2016, Swanson participated in the #KyrieChallenge. The video got rave reviews and shoutouts on ESPN’s SportsCenter. He displayed his crossover dribble ability in the streets of NYC, and got tons of views on social media. He even got a shout-out from Kyrie Irving online.
According to his Harlem Globetrotters bio, Swanson is considered the “Michael Jordan of dwarf basketball, that would make sense; he’s one of his favorite hoopers. Swanson also holds the distinction of being the shortest player in Globetrotters team history.
Swanson was born with dwarfism, a genetic condition and was first introduced to basketball as a toddler and grew up also idolizing Philadelphia 76ers NBA Hall of Famer, Allen Iverson. Listed as 6’1 on NBA rosters, Allen Iverson was realistically about 5’10. The Answer was overlooked because of his height but dominated the court with his speed and athleticism.
Swanson, like AI was also overlooked. But he loves basketball so he pursued his passion. “It was the first thing to catch my attention and the first thing that I fell in love with,” Jahmani Swanson told Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson while on the Scoop B Radio podcast.
“My mother will tell you that was my toy, that was like my Teddy Bear. I wasn’t sleeping with a Teddy Bear I was sleeping with a basketball and my mom has pictures to verify that.”
