Harlem Globetrotters

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The Globetrotters of Harlem are a basketball team from Chicago in the United States. They perform around the world during exhibition games that are both fun and athletic.

http://www.harlemglobetrotters.com/

History

The Globetrotters start in the Negro American Legion League under the name "Giles Post" 1. In 1927, they became professionals under the name "Savoy Big Five". The same year Abe Saperstein acquires the club he renamed the "Harlem Globetrotters", name based on two mistakes since the team never left the country's borders and actually comes from Chicago, Illinois. The team is composed entirely of black players, then not accepted in the major leagues of the country.

Originally, Globetrotters have a very competitive level. They conclude the year 1934, that of their 1000th match, with a record of 152 wins for 2 losses. In 1939, they participate in their first professional tournament, where they are defeated by the New York Rens, the first team entirely composed of black players. At the same time, they begin to offer the public clown antics parallel to the game Saperstein does not oppose these "clowneries" and even allows them on the condition that the advance on the scoreboard allows it.

In 1940, the Globetrotters participated in the World Professional Basketball Tournament and won in the final against the Chicago Bruins. During the 1940s, Globetrotters continue to excel in the game and develop more and more gags orchestrated by Reece "Goose" Tatum among others. In 1948 and 1949, they beat twice the Minneapolis Lakers who are then at the head of the very young NBA.

They are so amazing !

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In 1950, the entry of the first black player, Chuck Cooper, into the NBA, marks a turning point in the history of Globetrotters. The "Globies" are then victims of the media coverage they have brought so far to black players who are now moving massively to the NBA. Until then a fetish franchise for top black players, the Saperstein club is becoming less attractive to the opportunities offered by the NBA. Nevertheless, their victory against the university stars in 1951 attracts a record of 31684 spectators at the Rose Bowl and they start, the following year, the biggest world tour for a basketball team with 108 exhibition games.

In 1953, a dispute over the contracts of the two stars Marques Haynes and Reece Tatum led them to leave the team to join the Magicians of Harlem. In 1959, the Globetrotters play nine matches in Moscow including Wilt Chamberlain. The team is received by Nikita Khrushchev4 and collectively receives the Order of Lenin medal.

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Thereafter, Globetrotters continue to set up comic sequences and gradually become more known for their entertaining than sporting abilities. In the 1970s and 1980s, the team is managed by Metromedia and appears in many television series. They are the subject of the cartoon series The Harlem Globetrotters, a Hanna-Barbera production, and their cartoon characters appear in three episodes of the Scooby-Doo cartoon or, more recently, Futurama.

In the 1990s, the Globetrotters seek to counter the critics who say that they do not really play basketball anymore. They organize matches against university teams or selections like the Magic Johnson's All Stars. With more or less good results, they reconnect with the tradition of the 1950s during which they often met the NBA clubs.

In November 2000, the Globetrotters visited Pope John Paul II at the Vatican and even named him "Honorary Harlem Globetrotter".

In 2002, the team entered the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Some of the great players who have played at Globetrotters include Wilt Chamberlain, Meadowlark Lemon and Connie "The Hawk" Hawkins.

After 63 years as Harlem Globetrotters, the Washington Generals, after 16,000 defeats for 1 win against them, are notified of the end of their partnership in 2015.

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