She may be small and cute, but she’ll break your ankles. Meet 7-year-old basketball phenom, Jaliyah Manuel.
The young girl from New Orleans has more than 115,000 followers on Instagram, and that’s for good reason: Her skills on the court.
Jaliyah wants to be the first woman to play in the NBA (her backup plan is to be a nurse or a doctor), and with a 30-hour per week training schedule under her father’s tutelage, who are we to say she doesn’t have a shot.
Don’t think for a second her father is pushing her in a direction she doesn’t want to go. The daily grind is her passion, and if she doesn’t earn good grades in school, she’s not allowed to put a ball in her hands. For the record, she earns straight A’s.
Her videos on social media often showcase her incredible handles as she dribbles a ball while pushing a tire up the driveway, or while catching tennis balls thrown at her.
According to WWLTV, Jaliyah has also been known to create her own training drills, which inspire coaches all around the country to implement in their own programs.
She says her favorite players are Diana Taurasi, LeBron James, Steph Curry and Michael Jordan. And, her work ethic seems to mimic theirs. After all, there aren’t too many 7-year-olds who take on hill sprints to get better, or who can manage a 30-inch box jump.
If Jaliyah’s name (or crossover) rings a bell, maybe it’s because you’ve seen her highlight reel from 2015, which now has more than 52 million views on Facebook.
As for this girl, who sleeps with a basketball in her hands, the future seems bright in more ways than one.
“Nothing is going to be given to you, you gotta go get it,” she told WWLTV.
Wise words from someone so little, who has a big game.
