Harlem Globetrotters

The Harlem Globetrotters is a professional basketball team that plays special exhibition games featuring comic high jinks and outlandish skill demonstrations. Upon its founding in 1926, the Harlem Globetrotters was a full-fledged barnstorming—or traveling—team that played legitimately competitive games and showcased the talents of Black American players who were initially barred from most professional teams because of their race. As the team became increasingly dominant, players began to incorporate comedy and unique basketball feats into their performances. Eventually, the team morphed into a largely staged entertainment act that meshed real skill and athleticism with humorous antics. A century after the team's creation, Harlem Globetrotters players have participated in tens of thousands of games around the world, starred in films and television shows, and even served as global goodwill ambassadors.

Brief History

In 1926, young Chicago businessperson and Polish immigrant Abe Saperstein founded a professional basketball team dubbed the Savoy Big Five after the Savoy Ballroom nightclub where the team played its games. Saperstein's Savoy Big Five was an all-Black American barnstorming team that played against other similar teams throughout the Midwest. Hoping to promote the Savoy Big Five as an elite, top-tier team, Saperstein renamed his club the New York Globe Trotters. In 1930, he changed the name again to the Harlem Globetrotters in an effort to connect the team with the cultural center of black America.

Through the 1920s and 1930s, the Harlem Globetrotters team was a tour de force, playing a wide variety of college, professional, and other teams. As one of only a few all-Black American teams, the Globetrotters primarily faced off against all-White squads and frequently won with ease. In addition to demonstrating their impressive athletic abilities, Globetrotters players also entertained fans with humorous antics such as twirling basketballs on their fingers. Since this clowning kept fans interested during one-sided games, Saperstein approved of it, and it quickly became a Globetrotters trademark.

Despite the team's reputation for silliness, the Globetrotters remained a competitive powerhouse, winning its first professional championship in 1940. Later in the decade, the Globetrotters began touring internationally and playing world-class teams from the National Basketball Association (NBA), which was formed in 1946. When the league began drafting Black American players in 1950, a number of Globetrotters players went on to become bona fide NBA stars. Even though filling out the team's roster with talented players became more difficult after the NBA's racial desegregation, the Globetrotters continued to enjoy unfettered success in games played across the United States and around the world in the 1950s and 1960s. Fan interest in the Globetrotters arguably peaked in the 1970s, as the team gradually transitioned into an entertainment troupe and emerged as a fixture of popular culture. The team played countless crowd-pleasing games against rival clubs such as the Washington Generals. While the Globetrotters' popularity waned to some degree in the following decades, the team continued to be an admired attraction, playing its twenty-thousandth game in 1998 and being inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002. In the 2020s, the Harlem Globetrotters continued to tour throughout North America and internationally, showcasing their athletic prowess and entertaining antics. Not only did they maintain their legacy, but they also continued to expand their brand and reach.

Impact

From the outset, the Harlem Globetrotters had a significant impact on American culture. As an all-Black American basketball team that played at a time when Black Americans were typically excluded from participating in mainstream professional sports organizations, the Globetrotters team served as a showcase for Black athletes. With their dominant play on the court, Globetrotters players proved that Black Americans were as athletically capable as their White counterparts—and perhaps more so in some cases. Moreover, the Globetrotters helped to pave the way for the racial integration of professional sports in America. For basketball in particular, the Globetrotters served as a pathway to greatness for several notable NBA players, including Wilt "The Stilt" Chamberlin, Connie "The Hawk" Hawkins, and Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton.

The influence of the Harlem Globetrotters was not limited to sports, however. The team also took on a broader cultural importance as it began touring internationally. In 1951, for example, the US State Department sent the Globetrotters to play in Berlin as a means of counteracting the rising tide of communism among East German youths. In the years after this historic appearance, the Globetrotters continued to serve as goodwill ambassadors for the United States, playing games in places such as the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Over the years, the Globetrotters also supported an array of charitable causes, playing special charity games that raised more than $1 million for organizations such as the American Foundation for the Blind and the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund.

Perhaps more than anything else, however, the Globetrotters carved out a place for themselves in American history as popular culture icons. From an early stage, Globetrotters players enjoyed a certain degree of celebrity thanks to both their skilled play and their humorous antics. By the 1950s, the team reached international superstardom. In the early part of that decade, two Hollywood films, The Harlem Globetrotters (1951) and Go, Man, Go! Go, Man, Go! (1954), focused on the Globetrotters. At the peak of the team's popularity in the 1970s, the Globetrotters had a regular presence on television, including two different Saturday morning cartoon shows (The Harlem Globetrotters Show and The Super Globetrotters) and the Harlem Globetrotters Popcorn Machine musical variety show. Members of the team also made guest appearances on a long list of other shows over the years.

For many players, getting the chance to play for the Harlem Globetrotters is a coveted opportunity and an honor. This is true even for those "players" who never actually take to the court. Every year, the team ceremonially drafts a number of the world's top athletes to its roster. Some of the athletes who have been drafted in this manner include swimmer Missy Franklin, soccer star Lionel Messi, baseball player Mariano Rivera, and Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt. In addition, a number of esteemed individuals, such as Bob Hope, Nelson Mandela, Whoopi Goldberg, and Pope Francis, have been named honorary Globetrotters.

Bibliography

“About Us: Globetrotter History.” The Original Harlem Globetrotters, www.harlemglobetrotters.com/About. Accessed 12 Jan. 2025.

Carr, Taylor. "Harlem Globetrotters (1926– )." BlackPast.org, 22 May 2009, www.blackpast.org/aah/harlem-globetrotters-1926. Accessed 12 Jan. 2025.

Conradt, Stacy. “Meet the 10 Honorary Harlem Globetrotters.” Mental Floss, 7 Jan. 2017, www.mentalfloss.com/article/74714/meet-10-honorary-harlem-globetrotters. Accessed 12 Jan. 2025.

Green, Ben. Spinning the Globe: The Rise, Fall, and Return to Greatness of the Harlem Globetrotters. Amistad, 2006.

"Harlem Globetrotters Play Their First Game." History, www.history.com/this-day-in-history/harlem-globetrotters-play-their-first-game. Accessed 12 Jan. 2025.

Neal, Curly. "Harlem Globetrotters Did More than Entertain." USA Today, 22 Feb. 2016, www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2016/02/22/harlem-globetrotters-black-history-month-racial-barriers-discrimination-column/80703798. Accessed 12 Jan. 2025.

Parco, Nicholas. "At 90, the Harlem Globetrotters Still Make Dreams Come True." NY Daily News, 9 Apr. 2018, www.nydailynews.com/sports/90-harlem-globetrotters-dreams-true-article-1.2475957. Accessed 12 Jan. 2025.