The Harlem Globetrotters entertained many of us since we were in elementary school or younger....DID YOU KNOW that the team was NEVER based out of the New York CIty area of Harlem nor was any of the original players from Harlem.
The original promotions manager, who then became owner, Abe Saperstein, took a group of African American basketball players from the south side of Chicago and entertained people for money... The amounts collected were extremely small, even for those days. The team started in 1926 and entertained those in the Chicago area... Saperstein used the name HARLEM because he said it was the center of African American entertainment in the US at the time and felt the name added mystique.. The team DID NOT PLAY in Harlem until 1968 for the first time, 42 years after its inception.
Goose Tatum was really the first to add an entertainment element in the sense of the fancy trickshots.. The Globetrotters played many serious games including one that they beat the Minneapolis Lakers... It was at that time the NBA integrated and 3 players from the Globetrotters, Nathaniel 'Sweetwater' Clifton, Chuck Cooper, and Earl Lloyd got drafted.... Clifton got the nickname, SWEETWATER, for his love of soft drinks. Clifton and another famous Globetrotter, Goose Tatum. also played in the Negro Leagues in baseball. Clifton was the first African American to be drafted in the NBA but because of the playing dates, Lloyd was the first African American to appear in the NBA in a game... Clifton led the Knicks to their first NBA finals appearance in his initial year at age 27.
We, on this board, were entertained by Meadowlark Lemon, Curly Neal, Marques Haynes, and Geese Ausbie most likely... They had hearts of gold to entertain and NONE came from the big city... Meadowlark Lemon came from the same town as Michael Jordan(Wilmington, North Carolina) and Curly Neal was also from the Tar Heel state in Greensboro.. Many of the others in this era were from the Oklahoma/Arkansas region of the US. Curly Neal might be the only one left that is living out of that group of players.
It might interest you to know that major league baseball players Ernie Banks, Bob Gibson, and Ferguson Jenkins all played for the Globetrotters basketball team at different times. Wilt Chamberlain played on the Globetrotters for 2 years.. Connie Hawkins did as well. They have diversified to women as 13 have played for the Globetrotters from the 1990's; Lynette Woodard being the first. I believe that Osbourne Lockhart from the Gophers also played for the Globetrotters.... Just something that may be of interest for you.
A UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA PLUG: Chuck Cooper, the first black player ever drafted in the NBA, got his MASTERS DEGREE IN SOCIAL WORK AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA after he retired from the NBA.. Cooper was the FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN college basketball player(Duquesne University is where he played and got his undergrad degree) to play a college game south of the Mason Dixon line. He actually started his college career at West Virginia State then went in the military to fight in World War II then to Duquesne after that. Cooper was born and died in Pittsburgh.
The original promotions manager, who then became owner, Abe Saperstein, took a group of African American basketball players from the south side of Chicago and entertained people for money... The amounts collected were extremely small, even for those days. The team started in 1926 and entertained those in the Chicago area... Saperstein used the name HARLEM because he said it was the center of African American entertainment in the US at the time and felt the name added mystique.. The team DID NOT PLAY in Harlem until 1968 for the first time, 42 years after its inception.
Goose Tatum was really the first to add an entertainment element in the sense of the fancy trickshots.. The Globetrotters played many serious games including one that they beat the Minneapolis Lakers... It was at that time the NBA integrated and 3 players from the Globetrotters, Nathaniel 'Sweetwater' Clifton, Chuck Cooper, and Earl Lloyd got drafted.... Clifton got the nickname, SWEETWATER, for his love of soft drinks. Clifton and another famous Globetrotter, Goose Tatum. also played in the Negro Leagues in baseball. Clifton was the first African American to be drafted in the NBA but because of the playing dates, Lloyd was the first African American to appear in the NBA in a game... Clifton led the Knicks to their first NBA finals appearance in his initial year at age 27.
We, on this board, were entertained by Meadowlark Lemon, Curly Neal, Marques Haynes, and Geese Ausbie most likely... They had hearts of gold to entertain and NONE came from the big city... Meadowlark Lemon came from the same town as Michael Jordan(Wilmington, North Carolina) and Curly Neal was also from the Tar Heel state in Greensboro.. Many of the others in this era were from the Oklahoma/Arkansas region of the US. Curly Neal might be the only one left that is living out of that group of players.
It might interest you to know that major league baseball players Ernie Banks, Bob Gibson, and Ferguson Jenkins all played for the Globetrotters basketball team at different times. Wilt Chamberlain played on the Globetrotters for 2 years.. Connie Hawkins did as well. They have diversified to women as 13 have played for the Globetrotters from the 1990's; Lynette Woodard being the first. I believe that Osbourne Lockhart from the Gophers also played for the Globetrotters.... Just something that may be of interest for you.
A UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA PLUG: Chuck Cooper, the first black player ever drafted in the NBA, got his MASTERS DEGREE IN SOCIAL WORK AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA after he retired from the NBA.. Cooper was the FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN college basketball player(Duquesne University is where he played and got his undergrad degree) to play a college game south of the Mason Dixon line. He actually started his college career at West Virginia State then went in the military to fight in World War II then to Duquesne after that. Cooper was born and died in Pittsburgh.
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