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Harlem Globetrotters
The Harlem Globetrotters must be the most well-known basketball team in the world. Founded back in 1926 by Abe Saperstein, they have gone on from strength to strength through the decades and are still active today.
Abe Saperstein was 24 years old when he decided to coach a new basketball team, which he called the 'Savoy Big Five' because at that time, they were able to play basketball games at the Chicago Savoy Ballroom. The Savoy also sponsored Abe's team, but as the basketball matches did nothing for business, the ballroom soon stopped holding them. Some of the team disbanded, but those who remained decided to become part of Abe's touring team and they made their debut in January 1927 in Illinois. The name of the team changed to Saperstein's New York Globetrotters as they continued their tour, but in 1930 it became Harlem New York Globetrotters to signify that the players were all black although none were from Harlem or New York. This eventually got shortened to the name they are known by today - Harlem Globetrotters.
In 1939 the team played in a professional tournament and although they lost to the New York Rens, it was during this year that the characteristic "clowning" around started. The crowd loved the way they clowned and Abe was happy for the team to continue doing this as long as they were leading in the game. The following year, the team won the World Basketball Championship.
The Harlem Globetrotters set up a basketball training camp in Wisconsin in the summer of 1940 and it has become an annual tradition since then.
In 1942, the first white player joined the Globetrotters, Bob Kaestens and the team also recruited Boid Buie three years later in 1945 and he only had one arm.
The following year, the team started to get international recognition after they played in Hawaii and were also featured in Time LIFE magazine in December 1946. Just three years later, the team also played in Alaska in front of a crowd of Eskimos. They even travelled by dog sled in order to reach the location where they needed to play.
With so many triumphs it was not long before bodies such as the National Basketball Association (NBA) and in 1950, the NBA decided to sign black players, were noticing the Globetrotters. This led to other major league basketball teams signing black players and Abe decided it was also time to also have a basketball trip across Europe. The team also went to Morocco and Algeria.
In 1952 the team celebrated their silver anniversary and marked this with a round the world tour. They were also involved in a movie about them called 'The Harlem Globetrotters' and in 1953, a second film was done on the team in the movie 'Go Man Go!' that featured Sidney Poitier and also starred Abe Saperstein himself.
Although the team were doing well and winning all their games, they started to find it difficult to find opponents because of their winning streak. So, Abe contacted a friend of his, Louis 'Red' Klotz to develop a team to oppose the Globetrotters.
In November of 1953, the team appeared in the Ed Sullivan Show and by the time it got to 1956, the team had 4 separate teams on tour due to the tremendous demand for them and these teams were playing 7 days a week. There was even a ceasefire in Peru when the Globetrotters played there for 4 days during their civil war. As soon as the team left, the war resumed.
The team even performed in front of Pope John Paul VI in 1963. Sadly 3 years later in 1966, Abe Saperstein died at the age of 63. One year after Abe's death, Potter Palmer VI, John O'Neil and George Gillett Jr bought the team. In the same year, the team played on the deck of an aircraft carrier - the USS Enterprise at Hunter's Point in Oakland.
Even though the team had the moniker 'Harlem' it wasn't until 1968 that they actually played in Harlem for the first time - 41 years after they debuted in Illinois.
Abe's achievements were recognised in 1970 when he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. On September 5th of the same year, the team's cartoon series started on the CBS Network and was an instant hit. It had a 3-year run and earned the highest ratings in the history of Saturday morning TV. This was not to be the only show the Globetrotters had. In 1972 a variety series was debuted called 'The Harlem Globetrotters Popcorn Machine'. It was a one-hour musical variety special again on CBS.
In 1976 the team ownership changed again, this time to Metromedia Inc. Two years later the team visited West Africa for the first time.
The popularity of the team kept on growing and in 1982 they became the first and only sports team to be honoured with a star on Hollywood's 'Walk of Fame'. Just 3 years later, they signed their first female player, Lynette Woodard.
Ownership of the team changed yet again in 1986 when they were sold to the International Broadcasting Corporation (IBC), but in 1993 Mannie Jackson bought the team and became the first African-American and former player to own a sports/entertainment organisation. This was done during a special ceremony in Harlem.
The Globetrotters had a movie done by Columbia Pictures in 1994 that focussed on the teams early years and when South Africa won it's independence, the Globetrotters were the first professional basketball team to play in the now free democratic country. This was the year that they also signed long-term sponsorship deals with Walt Disney Inc and Reebok.
On September 30th 1999, the team received the John Bunn Award from the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame for their outstanding lifetime contributions to basketball.
Right up to and including 2002 the team were touring new countries including Estonia and Latvia, receiving honours from Basketball Halls of Fame. Up until 2002 the team had visited 117 countries and conducted numerous Youth Basketball Camps all over the USA. They have been going for 76 years and show no sign of slowing down or even tarnishing their winning streak. This is a team that was started off as all-black players has expanded and now takes players of any race and nationality, but ultimately, they are still remembered and recognised as the one and only Harlem Globetrotters.
Sources:
www.harlemglobetrotters.com/history/index.php
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