Manatu Tu’ihalangingie’s 2nd birthday has just passed. His gift to us — his skills.
No matter if it's just a laundry basket or an actual hoop — he got game.
Manatu Tu’ihalangingie’s 2nd birthday has just passed, but he has gifted his ball skills.
"I don't wanna get ahead of myself and get too excited. Just wanna keep him grounded right now for a 2-year-old. Yea don't let the fame get to his head. He asks me, ‘Momma, can I basketball? Me? Basketball?’ I'm like, OK, you wanna watch your own highlight video,” mom Bailey Tu'ihalangingie laughed.
Bailey posted this video of the then 1-year-old hooping like he belongs in a league.
"I've just been filming him throughout his whole little 1-year-old little life because he just has this obsession with basketball," she told InsideEdition.com.
Manatu’s obsession started with a trip to a college basketball game.
"He'd always seen it on TV and he was really interested in it, but then when he went to a live game, that's the first time we saw our child sitting still. We were just like, ‘Wow. He really likes this.’
When they got home that night, Manatu started throwing a ball in the air. That told his parents he needed a hoop. They used a laundry basket instead.
"I posted a video up on my Instagram. Three days later, grandma sent a hoop to our front doorstep and that's when it all started. He plays every single day for hours on end and he watches highlights, obviously that's where he gets all of his moves from," Bailey began.
"And he's just so observant. Like if I shoot with him, I shoot right handed and he shoots left handed. But if I start shooting with him and he'll watch me, he'll switch over to his right hand. And I'm like, oh no buddy it's good that you're left handed. Like that's a good, unique aspect."
As it turns out, Bailey used to hoop in high school. Her whole family played ball.
Her husband, Roderick, is athletic himself. But Manatu loves two familiar athletes in particular.
"He loves Lebron and he loves Steph Curry. He's too young to know that they're rivals. Whenever Steph does a dance move, he copies him. Lebron's like, tomahawk dunks. He loves watching those and then he'll copy them," Bailey said.
Unbeknownst to her, Bailey just might be starting her own squad.
She already has a shooter like Curry. Sharing her second pregnancy on social media, she may just have a little King James on the way. For now, she’ll continue to encourage Manatu as he continues his full court press.
"I hope he keeps going. I don't see him stopping anytime soon, I mean with him playing all day everyday, it's not going away anytime soon."
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