The Greatest Globetrotter of all Time has died.

Meadowlark Lemon, whose halfcourt hook shots, no-look behind-the-back passes and vivid clowning were marquee features of the feel-good traveling basketball show known as the Harlem Globetrotters for nearly a quarter-century, died on Sunday in Scottsdale, Ariz., where he lived. He was 83.

The death was confirmed by his wife, Cynthia Lemon.

A gifted athlete with an entertainer’s hunger for the spotlight, Lemon, who dreamed of playing for the Globetrotters as a boy in North Carolina, joined the team in 1954, not long after leaving the Army. Within a few years, he had assumed the central role of showman, taking over from Reece Tatum, whom everyone called Goose, the Trotters’ long-reigning clown prince. Tatum was a superb ballplayer whose on-court gags — or reams, as the players called them — had established the team’s reputation for laugh-inducing wizardry at a championship level.

This was a time, however, when the Trotters were known not merely for their comedy routines and basketball legerdemain; they were also a formidable competitive team. Their victory over the Minneapolis Lakers in 1948 was instrumental in integrating the National Basketball Association, and a decade later their owner, Abe Saperstein, signed a 7-footer out of the University of Kansas to a one-year contract before he was eligible for the N.B.A.: Wilt Chamberlain.

Watch Out Pylon! wrote:Did I completely miss Globetrotter in the title or did you just change it?

tGreenWay wrote:RIP. Those guys were so much fun to watch as a kid. Looked forward to seeing Lemon and Curly Neal every year.  

Floyd Robertson wrote:

tGreenWay wrote:RIP. Those guys were so much fun to watch as a kid. Looked forward to seeing Lemon and Curly Neal every year.  

Back then I could name a few guys on the Globetrotters, like Lemon and Neal.  I couldn't give you a single name for any current Globetrotters.

tGreenWay wrote:

Floyd Robertson wrote:

Back then I could name a few guys on the Globetrotters, like Lemon and Neal.  I couldn't give you a single name for any current Globetrotters.

Same. I figure it's because they don't make the rounds to the same cities every year like they used to. They're also not nearly as popular because there's so much other basketball to watch on tv nowadays.

LooseGoose wrote:

tGreenWay wrote:


Same.  I figure it's because they don't make the rounds to the same cities every year like they used to.  They're also not nearly as popular because there's so much other basketball to watch on tv nowadays.  

This and you could count on them being on "Wide World of Sports" or some other network show at least once a year.

FLINT, Mich. (WXYZ) - With the ongoing Flint water crisis, the Harlem Globetrotters announced on Friday they are removing the well-known "water bucket skit" from the team's show in Flint next week.

According to the Globetrotters, they are leaving the water bucket behind for the Jan. 25 show out of respect for Flint residents affected by the recent water crisis.

Floyd Robertson wrote:Harlem Globetrotters removing water bucket skit from Flint Show

FLINT, Mich. (WXYZ) - With the ongoing Flint water crisis, the Harlem Globetrotters announced on Friday they are removing the well-known "water bucket skit" from the team's show in Flint next week.

According to the Globetrotters, they are leaving the water bucket behind for the Jan. 25 show out of respect for Flint residents affected by the recent water crisis.

A) I'm glad Meadowlark isn't around to see this.
B) Not doing the bucket routine might be the most depressing thing ever
C) People are ninnies.