This 5’5” Basketball Player Can Dunk And Has a Message: Treat Short Athletes Better
Brandon Todd spent years training to be able to dunk, putting on 80 pounds of muscle and increasing his vertical to 45 inches
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This is Brandon Todd. He’s 5’5″, he can dunk a basketball, and he’s the subject of this short documentary.
Todd wants you all to stop judging short athletes before giving them a chance. He spent years without an athletic role model until he saw a Russian powerlifting team on television, leaping into the year. Over the next of several years, he put on 80 pounds of muscle and trained to be able to leap over 45 inches. “I’ve done all of these things not only for myself, but for all of you that have been counted out, been laughed at, been picked last. Your biggest hurdle isn’t your opponent, it’s yourself,” he says.
So before you judge a kid (or adult) by their height, think of Todd and his Russian powerlifting regime.
More from Smithsonian.com:
The Scientific Reason LeBron James Isn’t As Important As You Think
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