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Meet the Shortest Member of the Harlem Globetrotters

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The shortest player to ever wear a Harlem Globetrotters jersey built his reputation the hard way — on the blacktop.

Jahmani “Hot Shot” Swanson stands 4 feet 5 inches tall, but that number has never stopped him from going through defenders nearly twice his height. Born in the Bronx and raised in Harlem, Swanson has dwarfism and spent years building a following in pickup games before the Harlem Globetrotters ever called. Great Big Story’s profile traces how a kid who was underestimated on sight became the shortest man in franchise history — and one of its most requested attractions.

• Swanson, listed at 4 feet 5 inches (135 cm), is officially recognized as the shortest player in Harlem Globetrotters history.
• He signed with the Globetrotters in December 2017 and made his debut at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on December 26, 2017, wearing jersey No. 9.
• Before turning pro, he played collegiate ball at Monroe College in the Bronx, starred for the New York Towers in the Dwarf Athletic Association of America, and competed in the World Dwarf Games.

Building a Name on Venice Beach

Swanson’s rise didn’t start in an arena — it started at Venice Beach, where he took on streetball regulars a foot and a half taller and made it look routine. Video of those pickup games spread fast, and the nickname “Mani Love” followed him online before the Globetrotters ever scouted him. Fans and commentators started calling him “the Michael Jordan of dwarf basketball,” a tag earned through his handle and the quickness he uses to get past defenders who outreach him by a mile.

That internet profile turned into real exhibitions. Swanson took on celebrities and pro athletes in one-on-one matchups, including sessions against Jamie Foxx and NFL veteran Terrell Owens, that only added to his highlight reel and his following.

Signing With the Globetrotters

The Harlem Globetrotters officially signed Swanson in December 2017 ahead of their 2018 “Amazing Feats of Basketball” World Tour. He debuted at the Barclays Center on December 26, 2017, in jersey No. 9 — a hometown arena for a Bronx-born, Harlem-raised player finally getting to perform in front of a New York crowd wearing the Globetrotters’ colors.

His path to that jersey ran through the Dwarf Athletic Association of America, where he starred for the New York Towers, and through the World Dwarf Games, where he competed before his viral videos ever existed. Monroe College in the Bronx gave him his collegiate reps. None of it required a growth chart exception — just results.

The Message Behind the Handles

Swanson uses the platform for more than dribbling exhibitions. He regularly speaks to kids about bullying and about pursuing goals despite physical differences, framing his height as irrelevant to what he’s capable of on a court.

Just because I’m small, it doesn’t mean I’m weak.

He’s put it more bluntly elsewhere, calling height “nothing but a number” — a line he leans on when explaining why being underestimated by opponents, and by strangers who see him for the first time, only sharpens his competitive edge. It’s the same mentality that carried him from Venice Beach pickup runs to a Globetrotters roster spot, and it’s echoed in how other little-person basketball players have described competing at a high level despite the same doubts.

Swanson’s jersey number, 9, has stuck with him since that Barclays Center debut, and he’s remained a fixture of the Globetrotters’ touring roster ever since — still running the same ball-handling clinics that made him famous on the beach in the first place, just now with an arena full of people watching instead of a crowd of strangers at Venice.