He may be 4-foot-5, but his game is larger than life. Meet Jahmani Swanson, 32, the Harlem Globetrotters’ newly signed rookie. This historic move by the exhibition team that combines basketball, theater and comedy makes Swanson the shortest person to ever be employed by the Globetrotters.

Swanson, who was born with a form of dwarfism, has been playing the sport since his parents put a ball in his hand as a baby, according to the New York Post. He went on to play at Monroe College in the Bronx, and continued playing with exhibition teams after school. In 2011, he tried out for the Globetrotters and performed in a few games in 2016 before the team finally inked him.

But, 4-foot-5, you’re thinking? Just watch:

 

 

 

Swanson, who’s from Harlem, thrives on proving people wrong when it comes to the misconceptions they have about his size and his talent.

“People underestimate me all the time and that’s what really motivates me more,” Swanson told the New York Post in 2014. “People think if they’re bigger than me they can post me up, but just because I’m small it doesn’t mean I’m weak…People come at me because they want to think that I’m not that good,” he said. “I love it. It’s been something I’ve been facing since I was one or two years old.”

Swanson’s favorite player growing up was Michael Jordan, and now people call him the “Michael Jordan of little people.”

He’ll step on the court as an official Harlem Globetrotter for the first time on Dec. 26 in Brooklyn at the Barclays Center. The next night, he’ll suit up for a game at Madison Square Garden. And yes, the hometown ticket requests are already piling up.

“It’s a blessing and its also a headache because you get a limited amount of tickets,” he told the New York Daily News. “The thing about my family and friends, if I can’t get them a ticket, they’re just happy to see someone they know from that neighborhood playing at Madison Square Garden or Barclays Center.”

We can’t wait to see his handles on the big stage. And, oh yeah. His bucket of confetti, too.